


Honeymoon Heist

by Alanna_Grey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vigilantes, Badass Keith, Badass Lance, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Brawler Keith, Country Singer Keith, Crime Fighting, Emotions, Fake Marriage, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Hacker Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, I Tried, Lance as the Tailor, Leverage vibes, M/M, Minor Shaddam, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), POV Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Lance (Voltron), Romantically Dense Shiro, Secret Marriage, Silver Tongue Lance, Some Action, Thief Lance (Voltron), Tired Space Dad Shiro, idiots to lovers, soft bois
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29438820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alanna_Grey/pseuds/Alanna_Grey
Summary: The Voltron Vigilantes are on their biggest job yet - stopping the Galra gang from releasing LoveBug; a dangerous drug that will surely kill thousands. With the release day - Valentine's day - just around the corner, do they have enough time to pull it off?Meanwhile, Lance has grown ever fonder of Keith in the year since Voltron formed. One night after a particularly difficult heist, and too much to drink, they decide to get married in secret. For legal reasons and definitely not because of feelings.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to dedicate this fic to a few people. To BitterNerd for helping me world build and pushing me to write it in the first place. to GeneratingWings for encouraging me to keep going and believing in me. And for Spartona, who helped with Country Keith (who appears in ch 2, sorry >.< )  
> I don't have an upload schedule but I'm hoping it won't be more than a few days.   
> Happy Valentine's Day <3

Everyone arrived at their secret base of operations at about the same time. It was little more than an old office space in a warehouse attic, but it had its own entrance off a little alley and it was in the industrial part of town. That is to say, quiet and secluded; the perfect HQ for a vigilante gang. 

Lance examined the white board they had been piecing together. Pictures of people and newspaper clippings were connected by string with facts scrawled between. 

They had been tracking the largest gang in the city, the Galra, and their shady dealings. Usually, gangs were only interested in their own affairs or with other gangs so they left them alone. This gang however, targeted innocent people and was suspected to be funded by a large pharmaceutical company. So the Galra were pretty high up on the list for the Voltron Vigilantes to take down. 

Voltron was composed of a handful of well trained people; some of them were criminals before, like Lance himself, and some of them weren’t. When Shiro had quit the police force due to corruption, he had assembled the best of the people he knew, on both sides of the law. 

Keith, like usual, was the last one to arrive to the meeting. He always hid around the corner to make sure that nobody followed any of them in. Keith slouched into a chair and crossed his arms.

“Okay, listen up, gang.” Shiro started the meeting that he had called them for. “We just got some pretty big news. Matt just confirmed that the drug we found in the Galra warehouse is a new composition. It is undoubtedly the drug that we’ve been hearing about.”

“As we all know,” Allura picked up where Shiro paused. “The drug is being referred to as LoveBug and is being targeted towards young people as a party drug. However, Matt’s analysis indicates that it is much stronger and much more deadly than anything on the market now.”

“How deadly are we talking?” Hunk asked, always worried about public safety. 

“Very.” Shiro sighed. “It looks like even a small dose is very effective but stays in the system and will slowly shut down all major organ functions. From what Matt described, it’s a very slow and painful death.”

Hunk gasped.

“Why on earth would they want to kill off their market?” Keith asked, agitated. 

“Well that’s the thing we need to gather more intel on.” Replied Allura. “But we think it has to do to their connection with Daibazall Pharmaceuticals. We know they are making a few new drugs, but that is nothing out of the ordinary for a big company like Daibazall.”

“We were going to ask Pidge to hack into their system,” Shiro said and turned his attention to Pidge. “And see if you can find any more intel for us.” 

“You got it boss. I’ll need some more info though.”

Shiro nodded. “Allura has the file. After the meeting we’ll go through it.” He turned his attention again. “Keith, were you able to get anything from your old contacts?”

“They don’t know a lot. Most of my contacts from when I was in the Galra are either dead or know better than to talk to me.” Keith scowled. “They seemed to think there was something going on around Valentine’s day, but weren’t sure. I’ll keep digging though.”

“Just make sure you stay safe, Keith.” Allura said. 

“Pfft. Keith? Be safe?” Lance joked. 

Keith scowled at him as Allura rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t see you risking your neck in enemy territory for info.” Keith retorted. 

“Excuse you. Who gathers most of the intel from the police?” Lance asked rhetorically. “Oh, that’s right. Me.”

“Oh yeah, working part time at a coffee shop.  _ So dangerous _ .”

“Boys.” Shiro said as a warning. He didn’t need to say anything else for them to settle down. 

When Voltron had first formed, Keith had pissed Lance off to no end. Perfect poster child for what a vigilante should be. Wasn’t afraid of throwing a punch, or taking one; cared for the safety of civilians; unfairly attractive but with that bad boy vibe; serious and brutally honest. To be fair, Keith actually was with the Galra for many years before meeting Shiro and working with the police. His behaviour was for self preservation. But still! He got under Lance’s skin and made his home there. Lance had pushed Keith’s buttons at every opportunity since, just like Keith did back. 

In the year since, they had come to an understanding and tentative friendship. However, they still bickered. Lance liked pushing his buttons, just to get a rise out of him. Just to see him scowl. Just to have his full attention. 

Lance made a face at Keith before they both turned their attention back to Shiro.

“Thanks for confirming, Keith. I think it’s safe to say that Valentine's day is the release date for a drug called LoveBug. That gives us two and a half weeks to stop it.”

“Valentine’s day is on a Sunday this year.” Pidge frowned. “Seems like a weird day for a party drug.”

“Hmm.” Allura considered. “That’s a good point. Maybe it’s releasing on the Saturday night?”

“My one contact did mention a Valentine’s day party that was happening on the 13th.” Keith added. 

“That still only gives us two and a half weeks to stop it.” Shiro said

“How are we going to do that?” Hunk asked. “Aren’t we trying to take down the police with this one too?”

“Ideally, yes.” Allura replied. “There are some detectives and perhaps higher ranks that are being bribed by Galra. I would love to take them down in this.”

“However,” Shiro took over. “Stopping LoveBug from hitting the streets is our main priority. Everything else, including the pay, is back burner. There’s no telling what the damage could be if we leave this.” 

“Shiiirrrooooooo.” Pidge complained. “I get that this is important but we need to get paid! How else are we supposed to afford things to keep Voltron operating if we don’t get paid?”

“You know….” Lance drawled. “I could always...  _ acquire _ things to sell. I still keep in touch with my fence…”

“Absolutely not.” Shiro shut him down. 

“You know, Pidge does have a point. It costs money to keep this place running, Shiro.” Allura said. 

“And we all have bills.” Pidge added. 

“Plus it’s not like it really affects those I steal from. They have insurance to cover the cost and I don’t take anything of extreme sentimental value. I’m not a monster.”

“No. Stealing.” Shiro said firmly. “But we will do our best to find money somewhere along the way without stealing.”

“As long as we can pay the bills.” Pidge shrugged. 

There was a beat of silence.

“Hey, Lance,” Keith said, turning to him. “Spar?”

“I’ve got work in a couple hours but I’ve got some time.” Lance replied with a smirk. 

“Anything else on the agenda, Shiro?” Keith asked. 

“No. Sparring is a good use of both of your time for now.”

Lance stretched exaggeratedly. “Alright Red.” He opted to use his code name as a challenge. “I think today’s the day I finally beat you.”

“Hah. Is that so?” Keith rose and stood in front of Lance, hands on his hips. “Bring it, Blue.”

Lance crossed his arms and leaned into Keith’s space. “Oh, I’ll bring it alright.”

“Will you now?” Keith leaned forward and knocked their foreheads together. 

“Boys.” Shiro sighed and shooed them away with a flip of his hand before turning back to Pidge and Allura.

Keith turned away and walked to the door. Lance followed him to the neighbouring office space which they had outfitted as a training room with some training equipment along the walls and a large empty padded area for sparring. 

They both took their jackets off and started some light stretching. They began with easy fighting. Lance had improved dramatically in the year Voltron had been active. His whole M.O. before had been don’t get caught or talk his way out of any situation. Keith on the other hand had been fighting for most of his life. He was skilled from the beginning and always beat Lance. Not by a lot, but enough for Lance to learn. 

Now, Lance found himself in a rear choke hold. Keith’s arm wrapped around his neck pulling him off balance. Lance could only lean his weight back into Keith and try to pry his arms away. Keith loosened the hold enough for Lance to breathe comfortably but not enough to wriggle out of the hold. 

“Remember,” Keith panted. “You won’t be able to remove my arms but you can still attack.”

“It’s hard not to panic with your arms around my neck!” Or when leaning against your hard chest, or having your breath directly in my ear, Lance thought. That was a totally different type of panic however. 

Lance leaned into the hold and elbowed Keith in the stomach. Keith buckled forward allowing Lance to shift his position and sweep his leg behind Keith, grab him by the waist, and pull him backwards. Keith released his hold to brace for the fall. Lance was up in an instant with Keith looking up at him with a big smile and a soft look in his eye. 

“Excellent! Only next time, you can pull your punch a little.” Keith said as he rubbed his side. 

“Sorry. I panicked.” Lance offered a hand and helped Keith to his feet. He checked his watch and noticed that it was time for him to be leaving for work. 

“As fun as it’s been, I need to get going.” Lance said. 

“I thought you didn’t work for a while yet?”

“By the time I get home and get changed and then bus to work I’ll only be a few minutes early.”

“I could drive you.”

“Are you sure?” Lance asked. “I'll be a few minutes getting ready.”

“I don’t mind. You’ve got Netflix.” Keith replied with a smirk. 

“Well in that case, I would love a ride. My knight in shining armour.” Lance bowed dramatically. 

Keith laughed and pushed him off balance, causing him to stumble. 

“Is that any way to treat your Prince?” Lance asked indignantly. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my royal pain in the butt. Would you prefer me to sweep you off your feet?” Keith smirked. 

Lance felt his mouth go dry and all retorts died as his brain shut down. Thankfully, Keith quickly turned away to grab their water bottles. Lance missed the slight tinge of pink on Keith’s cheeks at his own comment. 

“Hey guys?” Hunk burst into the room breaking whatever mood was settling between the two. “Thank goodness you’re still here. Important meeting. Pidge found out more.”

“We’ll be right there.” Keith settled into his usual, serious work demeanour and grabbed his jacket. 

Lance crossed the room to grab his own jacket and water and followed Hunk back to the main room. Shiro noticed them as soon as they entered. 

“Good, you’re here. Thanks for coming back.” Shiro said. “We’ve got good news and bad news.”

“Uh oh.” Lance said as he took a seat. 

Keith stood beside him and crossed his arms. “What’s the bad news?”

“Well,” Pidge said. “I hacked into Daibazall, but I can’t get into all their files. I need a direct connection to a main computer in their laboratory to break through their firewalls and other security measures.”

“I could break in.” Lance offered. “If we go at night it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“We did think of that,” Allura said. “Unfortunately, their security is much too tight to risk it.”

“But!” Hunk interrupted before Lance could complain. “The good news is that they are having a gala thing this weekend.”

“We will be able to infiltrate the gala and while everyone is distracted, you’ll sneak into their offices and get what I need.” Pidge finished. 

“Sounds good.” Keith said. “What are our covers?”

“Aaaaand this is where I let Shiro take over.” Pidge broke eye contact and stared at her laptop. 

Keith turned to glare at Shiro. 

“Well, we need to be able to blend in and not arouse suspicion.” Shiro explained. “And Allura and I will definitely be recognized. We interviewed at least a few Daibazall employees back when we were detectives. Pidge needs to stay in the van to do the tech stuff.”

“So only half of us will be going in.” Lance frowned. He was used to solo jobs but had gotten comfortable with having back up. Plus he would have never taken on a job like this if he was working alone.

“Just spit it out, Shiro.” Keith growled. “You can’t convince me if I don’t know what it is.”

Shiro chuckled. “You’re right. Sorry. We need you to perform for the venue.”

Keith blanched. “What?!”

“Hunk is going as catering staff, you’ll be the singer they’ve hired for the entertainment, and Lance will be your manager-slash-stagehand. That should give him enough time to sneak away and get back in time without anyone noticing.”

“Why can’t Lance be the performer? He lives for that shit.”

“We need Lance to sneak into their offices. He’s the best equipped for it and you know it.”

“What about making us all wait staff?” There was an edge of desperation to Keith’s voice. 

“Pff. That’s realistic.” Hunk laughed. “Three total strangers showing up last minute and then disappearing as soon as the event starts? No way.”

“Don’t worry though, Keith!” Pidge came to the rescue. “I know you don’t like actually singing in front of people. So I’ll set up a pre-recording and you’ll just lip sync and you’ll just need to make it look like you’re singing.”

“I still don’t like it.” Keith grumbled. 

“I know.” Allura consoled. “But it’s the best we can do in such little time.”

“Is this really the only way?”

“Yes.” Shiro gave him a sympathetic look but his voice was firm. 

Keith sighed. 

“Great!” Exclaimed Pidge. “I’ll get it all sorted out. So much to do and so little time.” Her fingers were already flying across the keyboard at an inhuman rate. “We’ll need to make up your set list as soon as possible too, Keith.”

“I’m taking Lance to work but I’ll come back and we can get that sorted out.”

“Perfect.”

“Speaking of taking Lance to work,” Lance said looking at his watch. “I gotta get going. I’ll see if I can find out anything on my shift.”

“Sounds good.” Shiro said. “But please, be careful, Lance. We don’t need any more trouble.”

“Oh please, Shiro. If even you and Allura were unable to make anything stick to me, I think I’ll be fine.” Lance winked as he grabbed his backpack and headed toward the door. 

Once outside, Keith led him to where his bike was. 

“You know, you’re lucky I keep a spare helmet here.”

“Yeah, I know.” Lance laughed. “Thanks for driving me by the way. I do really appreciate it.”

“Yeah. Not a problem.” Keith turned and handed him a helmet with a soft smile. 

Keith got on the bike and Lance settled behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around Keith’s waist. It wasn’t the first time Keith had given him a ride and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it still brought a smile to Lance’s face beneath the helmet. Even through the leather jacket, Keith was solid. The bike took off suddenly making Lance hold on tighter and let out a yelp. He could swear he felt Keith chuckling in his arms but it could also be the bike rumbling.

His relationship with Keith was a bit… weird these days to be honest. They used to be rivals, Lance  _ might _ admit that that was mostly on him and not Kieth. More recently, things had shifted to the right of rivalry but he couldn’t determine exactly where that was. He still fought for Keith’s attention. He still loved getting a rise out of him. But there were added features like wanting to make him laugh and the way his heart stuttered when Keith shot him that soft smile. 

Lance didn’t want to admit it was affection  _ or worse  _ but he had a fear that he was already long gone. In the words of  _ Good Omens _ , he didn’t really fall, more like, saunter vaguely downwards. And he was much too far down to get out at this point. 

Okay fine, so he would admit it to himself. In secret. He had feelings for Keith. But nobody would ever know. Ever. Not even his journal would know, cause then Hunk would read it and that would mean everyone would know. 

Anyway. It’s not like it even mattered. They had been rivals for  _ years _ and Keith didn’t like him like that. He could keep it professional. Mostly. 

The bike came to a stop outside his apartment building and he hopped off. He fished his keys out of his pocket and led Keith up to his apartment. 

It was a nice apartment; large windows, large rooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen. There was no way Hunk, an engineering grad student, or he, a part time barista, part time student, should be able to afford it. They never had anyone over, but everyone assumed Lance was supported by his rich family back in Cuba. It was a lie he bolstered because there was no way he wanted anyone to know the truth. 

Keith flopped down onto his couch, put his feet up on the coffee table, and flipped the T.V. on. 

“Oh, do make yourself comfortable. Mi casa es su casa.” Lance shot at his guest snarkily. 

“Lo sé” Keith smirked back at him looking over his shoulder. 

“You…” Lance trailed off. He was agitated but there was something about seeing Keith at home on his couch that took the edge off. “Whatever. Just don’t break anything, Mullet Man.”

Keith just hummed in response as Lance made his way to his room. He didn’t have much time left, but he quickly freshened up and changed into his work attire. 

  
  


Much too soon, he was whisked away and was standing outside the café, handing his borrowed helmet back to Keith. 

“Hey, what time do you get off work tonight?” Keith asked, accepting and securing the helmet to the bike. 

“Closing shift. I’ll be out at 9:30 give or take.”

“It’ll be dark.”

Lance blinked at him. “Yes. Thank you. It  _ will _ be dark.”

“No, that’s…” Keith sighed. “ I  _ meant _ it might be dangerous. Let me drive you home.”

“That’s very sweet but I couldn’t ask that. I’ve taken the bus before and I’ll do it again. Besides, what’s all my sparring practice for if I don’t have run-ins with ruffians in the dark?” Lance laughed.

Keith frowned. “No. It’s as a last defense. I’m the one who protects you from ruffians in the dark.”

Lance almost swooned from his serious tone and his concerned scowl. He reminded himself that Keith meant it about the whole team. It  _ was _ kind of his job on the team. He made good calls in the field and he did the fighting while Lance did the breaking in. Still, Keith was dedicated to his job. 

“Besides,” Keith continued. “You aren’t asking. I’m offering.”

“It’s really -”

“Lance. Please.” Keith gently placed his hand on Lance’s arm. “Let me get you home safe.”

Lance’s mouth was suddenly very dry as he nodded. “Uh, okay. Yeah.” He swallowed thickly. “I should be off at 9:30. I’ll text you if something comes up.”

Keith nodded and started up his bike. “See you later, Blue.”

Just like that, Lance was standing alone on the sidewalk. He shook his head trying to clear it of whatever the fuck that just was and headed into work. 

  
  


Soon, he was signed in and getting into the rhythm of the café. Balmari was a small, locally owned place with good coffee and good prices. They offered take out but most people made time to sit and enjoy the drinks and atmosphere. The locals loved it, but the perk for Lance was that it was located across the road from the main Altea Police Station. All the cops on this side of town (and many from other parts) came in for their coffee and pastries. With table service, Lance was able to pick up many juicy bits of info from many conversations. It was amazing what people talked about when they didn’t think anyone important was around. It was definitely difficult to be the favourite server and barista in a busy coffee shop  _ and _ pick up intel, but Lance was nothing if not talented.

“Ah! How's the Gorgeous Man today!” Lance cried as the next customer stepped up to the register. 

“Lance, my dear boy. I’m fine, thank you.” Replied Detective Wimbleton-Smythe, Lance’s favourite customer. 

“The usual for you today, Coran?”

“Please! With an extra shot of espresso and a large black coffee, no room, for my partner.”

“Planning on burning the midnight oil?” Lance asked, quirking a brow as he punched in the order.

“Things have been… a bit hectic recently. As lively as a Yalmore on Halmerry juice as my grandpapa would say.”

“That sounds like a lot.” Lance laughed. “I’ll get these drinks done up lickity-split for you.” 

Before he could step away from the counter, Coran reached out. “Just one moment, my boy.” He looked around to make sure nobody was listening. 

Lance glanced around to see his coworkers engrossed in their tasks and no other patrons behind Coran. They were as alone as they would be in the café. 

Coran leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’ve heard a rumor going around the station. Voltron is starting to pick up some notoriety among many in the underworld. There have been rumblings of trying to find out the Paladin's real identities. The rumours say the Tailor is one of them.” Coran cleared his throat. “Now, I know  _ you’re _ not involved with anything like that. But if you  _ happened _ to know someone who was, I’d tell the Tailor to keep an eye out.”

“Thanks Coran. If I happen to meet him, I’ll let him know.” Lance leaned back. “Now, let’s get you and Detective Kolivan caffeinated!”

Lance moved through the steps of making Coran’s triple espresso caramel mocha with whip. Lance didn’t know how Coran knew his alter persona, but he had known for a while and never done anything about it. In fact, he was more helpful than not on many occasions. What was far more worrying, was others digging into Voltron and the Tailor. He wasn’t sure if they would be able to find his real identity from what info they had, but he hadn’t been a high profile thief for this long by resting on his laurels. 

When he got home, he would go through the evacuation protocol with Hunk again. Make sure he had it memorized and the route through the back alleys to a safe distance. It had been a while since they’d done those drills. He would also text the Voltron chat (on their ultra secure channel thanks to Pidge) to update them. A new lock probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either. He added it to his mental list to ask Keith to stop by a hardware store on his way home. He was suddenly very thankful Keith had talked him into not taking the bus tonight. 

He handed the coffees over to Coran and went to help the next customer. The rest of his shift went by quickly. He tried to not stress over Coran’s words and tried to pick up anything else he could. There wasn’t too much, but he did find out that a suspected Galran general had to be let go because they couldn’t tie him to anything. The detectives seemed very frustrated with only being able to arrest some lower level members. Lance tucked the name Sendak away. If they could get some good dirt on him and take him down, it sounded like a large portion of the Galra would be effectively stunted. 

  
  


Before he knew it, he was standing out in the cold while his shift manager locked the doors behind them. 

“Well that was a night, huh, Shay?” Lance said with a stretch. 

“Tell me about it.” Shay replied, her voice tired. “And you didn’t have to deal with that Karen that insisted I made her drink wrong.”

“Ugg. Those customers are the worst. I can handle them too though. Don’t feel like you gotta take them all.”

“I know. Thanks, Lance. You seemed pretty stressed today though.” Shay smiled at him. “You taking the bus?”

“Naw. A friend is coming to pick me up tonight.”

“Oh good. You know how I worry.”

“That’s cause you’re a sweetie, Shay.” Lance said. “Now, let me walk you to your car. You’re not the only one who worries.”

Shay laughed as she headed behind the coffee shop where her car was parked. 

“I highly doubt someone would try to rob me on my way to my car. I’m hardly an easy target.”

It was true. Shay was over 6 feet tall and built to match. If Lance didn’t know her, he wouldn’t want to cross her path. But he did know her, therefore, he knew she was the sweetest person and couldn’t hurt a fly. She gave Hunk a run for his money and that was saying something. That’s why whenever they closed together, Lance made sure she got in her car and locked the doors before he let her leave his sight. 

Shay was unlocking her door when Lance’s phone started to ring. He fished it out of his pocket and saw Keith’s name on the screen. 

“Hey, -”

“Where the fuck are you? You better not have taken the bus.”

“If you had waited another second I would have told you I’m in the back parking lot walking Shay to her car, dude.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Yeah. You better be.”

“I’ll come around.”

“Kay.”

The line went dead as Lance shook his head. 

“Your friend?” Shay chuckled at his expression. 

“Yeah. Just assumed I took the bus. Jerk.”

“To be fair, the café is dark and the parking lot is hidden.”

Lance heaved a sigh. 

“I’m sure they’re just worried about you.” Shay continued. 

Lance laughed but didn’t get a chance to respond further because Keith’s bike rounded the building and stopped beside them. Keith kicked the stand down but left the engine running. 

“Alright, Shay. You get home safe.” Lance opened the door for her. 

“You too, Lance.” She said as she lowered herself into the driver's seat. “See you tomorrow! And say ‘Hi’ to Hunk for me.” 

Lance closed the door and watched as she locked the doors before turning to Keith. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Keith said as he handed over the spare helmet. 

“I have another favour to ask.” Lance said fiddling with the helmet.

“What is it?”

“Can we stop at a hardware store on the way?”

Keith glanced at his phone checking the time. “Sure? It can’t wait for tomorrow, though?”

“Would prefer tonight.” Lance answered. 

Keith scowled, asking for an explanation without words. 

Lance sighed. He should have known Keith would want to know. He would likely make a big deal of it too. 

“Coran - Detective Wimbleton-Smythe - told me that there was a possibility that some people in the underground are looking for the Tailor. And while I don’t think it’s anything too concerning yet, I wanted to get another lock.”

“The Tailor?...” Keith cocked his head to the side, not unlike a puppy. Lance would have found it adorable if he wasn’t so pissed. 

Lance threw his hands in the air and glared at Keith. “ME!” He hissed. “ _ I’m _ the 

Tailor. That’s my thief alias! How do you not know this!”

Keith’s expression went from confused to surprised to embarrassed. At least he had the sense to look ashamed. 

“I’m sorry - I didn’t - I thought -”

“I can’t believe we’ve been crossing paths for  _ years _ and you couldn’t even be bothered to remember my name.” Lance pouted, crossing his arms. 

“Obviously I’ve  _ heard of the Tailor _ , I just didn’t know-”

“Abbubub.” Lance silenced him by putting his finger over Keith's lips. “You don’t remember your biggest rival. It’s fine. Now. Hardware store, please.”

Keith’s expression instantly changed to his classic scowl. 

“No. Wait. So, a  _ detective _ told you you’re being  _ hunted down _ , and you’re just gonna buy another lock and call it a day!” His voice got angrier the further through the sentence he got. 

“Can you keep your voice down?!” Lance whisper-yelled. “Unless you  _ want _ me to be found out.”

“No!” The emphasis was still there but the volume was barely more than a whisper as well.

“Good. And besides. What else am I supposed to do?”

“I’m staying with you.”

“What?!” Lance gaped at his friend. “Oh my god, Keith.  _ No _ . That’s so not necessary.”

“Lance-”

“Coran told me to keep an eye out, not be  _ paranoid _ .”

“Lance.” Keith all but growled. “I’m. Staying. With. You.”

“There’s no way you're taking ‘no’ for an answer is there?” Lance asked as he wiped his hand down his face, looking to the sky as if it could grant him more patience. 

“If you’re in danger, I’m staying with you. End of discussion.”

Lance put his helmet on and mounted the bike. “Fine. I appreciate the concern, but I’m telling you, you’re overreacting.”

“I don’t care.” Keith replied matter-of-factly. “You should tell Shiro too.”

“Yeah, yeah. I was gonna message the group when I got home.”

“Okay.” Keith nodded and revved the engine. 

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and sagged into him, the events of the day finally catching up to him. As much as he didn’t think anything would happen tonight, or soon, knowing criminals were trying to find out his identity was stressful. 

The trip through the hardware store was quick. Apparently Keith knew what he was looking for. He mentioned something about first hand experience with the bad locks. Lance suspected illegal activity from his days with the Galra. Keith also insisted he buy a door bar. “It’s like propping a chair under the door handle, but designed for it, Lance. It’s more effective than most of these locks.” It wasn’t expensive and if it made Keith feel better then it was fine. 

  
  


Thankfully, they made it home not much after 10. He unlocked the door and stepped through before Keith. 

“Honeyyy, I’m hoooommmmeeee.” He sang out. “Guess who decided to come over for a sleepover?”

“Hey, Lance!” Hunk poked his head out from his room. “A sleepover? On a Wednesday night?”

“It wasn’t my idea!” Lance defended himself. 

“It's not a sleepover.” Keith frowned. 

“Oh, hey Keith” Hunk said. “If it’s not a sleepover, why are you here then?”

Keith looked to Lance with a  _ look _ that told him to explain the situation. 

“It’s really not that big of a deal, but Coran _ may  _ have mentioned that Voltron and the Tailor are getting some interest and to keep an eye out.” Lance explained. “And then Mr. Paranoid Pants insisted on staying over.”

Hunk gasped and covered his mouth, his eyes blowing wide. “Coran thinks people are after you? After all of us?”

“Well, it’s not really that surprising. We’ve been causing some commotion recently. But!” Lance tried to sound reassuring. “I did buy another lock that Keith is going to help me install. And a door bar.”

Hunk slowly nodded. “Still…”

“And we’ll be going over our evacuation drill tomorrow. Just in case.”

Hunk took a deep breath, fortifying his nerves. “Right. That makes sense. I guess I signed up for this when I officially joined Voltron.” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

“It’ll be okay, Buddy.” Lance closed the distance and gave his best friend a hug. “We’ll be careful.”

“Thanks, Lance.” Hunk hugged him back.

“On the plus side,” Lance said with a smirk. “Shay says ‘Hello’.”

Hunk held him at arm's length, slightly blushing. “Please say hello back tomorrow.”

“Dude, you should ask her out.”

“I couldn’t! It’s not like that.”

“She specifically tells me to say hi to you everyday we work together. It’s definitely like that.”

“She does that with everyone’s roommate or significant others. The other day she said to say ‘hi’ to April’s  _ cat _ .”

“Okay, yes. She does do that.” Lance conceded. “But not with the same small smile! I’m telling you, dude, it’s different.”

“If you say so.” Hunk sighed. “You’re also waayy too good at changing the subject.”

“That’s why they call me the Tailor.” Lance grinned. 

Hunk chuckled. “I guess so.”

“Why do they call you that?” Keith asked. 

Lance had almost forgotten about their guest. He looked over his shoulder to see the man with his arms crossed leaning a hip against the kitchen island, an adorably confused pinch between his brows.

“They call me the Tailor for how I can thread a tale.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Who came up with that?”

“Lance did.” Hunk said with a grin.

“Isn’t there some social rule about not coming up with your own nickname?” Keith asked. 

“ _ Technically _ , yes, but I’m not about to let anyone else give me an alias. Have you  _ heard _ some of the names out there? Pidge’s is ‘Olkari’ and I don’t even know what that means!”

“That’s true.” Hunk said. “She doesn’t seem to mind it though.”

“Yeah but I’m not about to let my totally badass secret identity be named something super lame or weird. Plus! I break into a lot of places from the roof and rappel down. Like a needle and thread. The Tailor.”

“I guess that’s fair.” Keith conceded. “About this lock?”

“Let me help with that.” Hunk said. “Lance can get snacks ready for the sleepover.”

“I was joking about that.” Lance said. “Don’t you have class tomorrow morning?”

“Psshh.” Hunk waved a hand disregarding his concern. “That’s not till 11:30. Totally enough time to watch a movie.”

“You guys don’t have to change your plans on my account.” Keith tried to protest. 

“Naw dude. This’ll be great. Salt and vinegar chips or popcorn?” Lance asked.

“Uhh, both?” Hunk looked at him incredulously. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Guys, it’s really fine...”

“Popcorn and chips coming right up!’ Lance said ignoring Keith. “Let’s do a B movie! Those are the best for sleepovers.”

Keith sighed, giving up on trying to argue and fished the lock out of his shopping bag. 

“Hopefully this won’t take too long to install.” Hunk said, taking the box from Keith to inspect it. 

  
  


Between Keith’s expertise and Hunk’s engineering knowledge, the lock was installed in no time. Then Keith showed Lance how to put the door bar on correctly (like there's a wrong way to do it? You just give the base a nudge so it’s secure. Not rocket science, pal).

Soon, they were flopping onto the couch, snacks and drinks in hand. Hunk had the remote and was flipping through the downloaded movies. 

“We have to watch the sequel to Sharktopus.” Lance said, sitting down between Hunk and Keith. 

“Awwee yesss.” Hunk said. “I loved that one. I hope the sequel is as good. Or bad.”

“A sequel? Should I know what happened in the first?” Keith asked skeptically. 

“Okay. Quick recap for Keith.” Lance said. He put on his best movie narrator voice. “The year is 2010 and the military thinks, for some reason, it’s a good idea to build a half shark half octopus monster. It is not. It escapes and goes on a murderous rampage. The end.”

“That’s the whole summary?” Keith laughed. 

“Oh yeah dude. That’s like, the whole movie.” Hunk confirmed. “Still well worth a watch though.”

“You won’t even be spoiled by watching this one first.”

“Nothing can spoil the magic of Sharktopus.” Hunk said. 

“Amen.” Lance nodded solemnly. 

“Alright. If you say so.” Keith chuckled, shaking his head. 

Hunk clicked on a movie titled  _ Sharktopus Vs. Pteracuda _ , set the remote on the coffee table, and settled into the couch. 

  
  


***

Hunk found the film just as ridiculous as the first one in all the ( worst ) best ways. Their banter and comments over the stupidity slowed as the three of them grew more tired, the events of the day creeping up on them. 

As much as Hunk wanted to see the end of the movie, he felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. His near horizontal position with his feet on the coffee table and his head resting on the arm rest not helping to keep him awake. He fell asleep somewhere near the end, missing the final monster showdown. 

He woke with a start from a kick to the leg. He blearily opened his eyes to see the tv in power saving mode, photos that he and Lance had taken scrolled over the screen. He turned his attention to the man beside him who had woken him. Lance was leaned away from him, with one foot tucked beside him and the other shifted, now resting by Hunk’s leg. A soft snore and smacking of lips indicated that the other two had fallen asleep too. 

Hunk rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing himself to get up and take himself to bed. He heaved himself up with a soft groan and turned to look at the two left on the couch. 

Keith was tucked into Lance’s side, head resting against his shoulder, with one arm slung across Lance’s chest. One leg was bent with his foot beneath him and the other was propped up on the coffee table. Lance was leaning toward Keith, head resting on the top of Keith’s, one arm trapped behind him.

Hunk slipped his phone out of his pocket and snapped a pic of the sleeping pair with a smile. They could deny it all they wanted, but Hunk knew they secretly didn’t hate each other. 

Hunk leaned forward and gently slipped his arms around Lance; one arm under his knees and one around his chest. He started to lift him from the couch but as he did, Keith tightened his grip and growled in his sleep. 

“Noooooo.” Lance whined, not waking. “Dun wanna go.”

Hunk chuckled and lowered Lance back down. Keith hummed happily and nuzzled into Lance’s shoulder. 

“Thanks Bud.” Lance mumbled and slightly shifted to get comfortable. 

Hunk pressed his hands to his mouth to stifle a laugh at the idiots. So much for taking Lance to sleep in his own bed. He grabbed a throw blanket and softly laid it across them as best he could before heading to bed himself. 

****

Lance came to consciousness slowly. He was not wholly comfortable, and had a crick in his neck. Though his eyes were not yet open, it seemed a lot brighter than when he usually woke up. He tried to recall the last thing that happened last night. He could only remember watching Sharktopus fighting Pteracuda and nothing after that. 

He felt a deep breath against his collarbone and a soft mumbled sound. He slowly opened his eyes to a mop of dark hair on his shoulder. 

He blinked a couple times as his brain tried to process what was going on. They must have fallen asleep on the couch during the movie. A small smile settled on his lips. There were definitely worse ways to wake up. 

He figured he had a choice to make now. He could get up, but that would mean disturbing Keith. Plus he was quite content with Keith leaning on him. Keith’s arm around his waist and his arm over Keith's shoulders. Quite comfortable indeed. This was the closest they’d ever been outside of sparring and riding on Keith’s motorcycle. 

His other option was to wait until Keith woke up, which sounded much better to Lance. However, he didn’t want Keith to think he’d been watching him in his sleep, so Lance leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. His breath was already deep and steady from just waking, a good impression of sleep. 

After several glorious minutes, Keith began to stir. When he felt Keith’s head lift off his shoulder, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around as if just waking himself. He met Keith’s bleary, Indigo-blue gaze only inches from his face. His face was free of any expression and his hair adorably mussed. 

“Good morning.” Lance murmured.

Keith blinked at him several times before leaning back. As he did, his hand dragged across Lance’s body. He stared at his hand splayed over his stomach for a second before snatching it back. 

“Sorry.” Keith said. “I must have fallen asleep.”

Keith leaned back even further, and Lance already missed the warmth and comforting weight against his side. 

“I think we both did.” He said while stretching both arms above his head. He was rewarded with a nice pop from his back. “C’mon. I’ll make breakfast. You can have a shower if you want.”

Lance got up and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a frying pan and set it on the stove. 

“I’ll start eggs when I hear the water turn off. There’s some clean towels in the closet.” He waved toward the closet in the hallway. “Help yourself.”

“Sure. Thanks.” 

Lance cleaned up the few dishes they had used the night before and not even 10 minutes later heard the water turn off. How Keith was supposed to wash all that hair of his in that short time, let along anything else, was beyond him. 

He was only just cracking the last egg into a bowl when Keith came out. He was wearing the same clothes and his hair looked very thoroughly towel dried, that is to say, adorably messy.

“I have a set of clothes if you want. I also have a hairdryer and brush in my bathroom.” Lance offered. 

“Naw, it’s okay. Thanks though.”

Lance stared at him, fork halfway to the eggs. 

“Dude. You need to brush your hair. It’s not that weird to use my brush.”

Keith cocked his head and drew his brows together. “But… I never brush my hair?”

Lance gasped. “What do you mean you never brush your hair?”

“I comb it through with my fingers and then let it air dry. It’s not that big of a deal.” Keith ran his hand through the damp locks as if to demonstrate.

“What the fuck, Keith.”

“It’s worked for me so far, hasn’t it?”

Lance just stared at the heathen. He knew his jaw was hanging open but his brain just couldn’t process. Couldn’t fathom not brushing  _ shoulder length hair _ . But Keith was correct. It had worked for him so far. Lance just couldn’t figure out  _ how.  _

“Are you gonna beat those eggs or just keep staring at me like I’m turning purple?”

Lance lowered the fork into the eggs but this topic was far from dropped. “How do you - how does it?  _ How?! _ ”

“It just doesn’t tangle? I don’t know how. I brush it like, once a week or so.” Keith shrugged casually. 

“No, that can’t be-“

“Good morning.” Hunk interrupted whatever rant he was about to start with a yawn, took the bowl out of Lance’s hands and started beating the eggs. “It’s too early to start bickering. This kitchen is a bicker-free zone.”

“But Keith-“

“Bicker-free zone.” Hunk repeated with firm patience 

“Fine.” Lance sighed. “ButKeithdoesn’tbrushhishair.” He got out as one word.

Hunk gave Keith a weird look. “That’s weird, man. But not the weirdest thing I’ve heard so…” He finished his sentence with a shrug. 

“Not the weirdest?” Keith quirked an eyebrow. 

Hunk leveled a stare at him. “Dude. I’m an engineering grad student.” His voice sounded dead inside. “There is a sign on the lab break room coffee pot that says NOT FOR MAKING MR. NOODLES. Yes, in all caps. And last semester I heard some guy saying that he brewed his coffee using Monster energy drink. Not brushing your hair is like, the most acceptable habit compared to that.”

Both of Keith’s eyebrows raised to his hairline at Hunk’s examples. 

“I should have known not to trust the  _ grad student _ to back me up on this one.” Lance grumbled. 

Hunk shrugged again. “We’ve all got out things. Besides, we’ve got more important things to talk about.”

“Oh?” Lance asked as he grabbed several slices of bread and put a couple in the toaster.

“Mhhmm.” Hunk nodded solemnly. “Keith’s set list for the show in 3 days.”

Keith groaned and wiped his hand down his face. 

“Oh yeah!” Lance said, ignoring Keith’s distress. “Did you talk to Pidge about it yet?”

“Yeah.” Keith scowled down at his hands resting on the counter. “She made me pick out a genre so she could set it up but gave me the evening to pick the actual songs. She’s gonna murder me when I say that I don’t have anything.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you out.” Lance said “Right, buddy?”

Hunk nodded in agreement. “What’s your genre?”

“We’re going with Country.” Keith replied. “Acoustic country songs. Just me and a guitar.”

“I didn’t know you could play.”

“I can, but I’m not going to be. Pidge is going to find a way to override their sound system and I’m going to lip sync.”

“So we just need to find a few country songs that you already know!” Lance said. 

“Pidge said an hour.  _ An hour _ .” Keith moaned. “How am I supposed to come up with  _ an hour _ of music.”

“That’s only like, 15 to 17 songs dude. It’s not that impossible.”

“What? How do you know that?” Keith looked at him sharply, brows furrowed. 

“Lance is really good at quick mental math like that, dude.” Hunk replied, grabbing his phone out. “Let’s see, 60 minutes divided by an average song length of 3.5 minutes is 17.14 and 60 divided by a song length of 4 minutes is 15.”

“Huh.” Keith sounded impressed. “That’s… That’s manageable.”

“Yeah.” Lance said. “Now grab that grocery list pad off the fridge and start writing a list.’

Keith did as he was bid and grabbed his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through it. He scribbled a couple songs down in a neat list. 

“What do’ya have so far?” Hunk asked as he poured the eggs into the hot pan and started scrambling them. 

“Uhh, not much, but Dolly Parton’s 9-5..”

“Can’t go wrong with a little Dolly.” Hunk said nodding. 

“And Simple by Florida Georgia Line.”

“I don’t know that one. Play a clip?” Lance asked. 

Keith scrolled for a second on his phone and hit play.

“An acoustic version would be a little slower and more soulful though.” Keith said after a few moments, pausing the music. 

“Still a good choice.” Lance said nodding. “Oh! You can’t forget Take me home Country roads.”

“That’s a classic.” Hunk agreed. 

“Thanks for helping me, guys.” Keith said, sounding relieved as he wrote it down. 

“Don’t thank us yet!” Lance said. “We’re just getting started!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gala heist! And a proposal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Country singer Keith! And badass thief Lance.

The rest of the week flew by. Lance had helped Keith pick out his setlist but he still couldn’t believe he was going to get to hear Keith sing. His heart fluttered at the thought. Okay, fine. Keith wasn’t  _ actually _ going to be singing, but Lance could pretend. He was currently pretending to be Keith’s manager, so it was just part of the act, okay?

Lance walked through the front doors of Daibazall Pharmaceuticals and flashed a big smile and the two passes that Pidge had given him to the large and not wholly  _ un _ -gang looking guards inside. The first guard took the passes and examined them.

“And who are you?” He grunted.

Lance gasped as if scandalized. “You don’t recognize the great Austin Denver! I can’t believe this!”

The guard looked Keith up and down critically while the other guard shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“He is the main entertainment tonight! Unless you want to explain to Tamara why Austin is late to the stage-“ Lance continued his rant until Keith rested his hand on Lance’s shoulder, cutting him off. 

“That’s enough, George.” Keith’s convincing southern drawl hit Lance like a truck to the chest. He felt weak at the knees. 

“We can’t expect these fine folks to know everyone.” Keith turned to the 2 guards. “I do apologize about my manager.”

God damn. Keith was playing the perfect southern gentleman, not a trace of his usual broody, emo-punk self. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Denver.” The guard said handing the passes back to Lance. “Please, use the elevator to the 14th floor and Tamara will show you were to set up.”

Lance nodded at them and strode across the atrium and hit the button for the elevator, Keith right on his heels. He waited until he was in the elevator and the doors were closed before he dared break character. 

“You can’t act. Where is this persona coming from?” He asked, clearly baffled. 

“I can’t act but I can remember my dad and his behaviour. It’s less acting and more copying.”

“Awe. That’s actually really sweet. Papa Kogane was a real gentleman. Guess the apple does fall far from the tree.” Lance smirked. 

Keith’s classic scowl was back and directed at Lance. Before either could say anything else, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Talk about fast elevators, hot damn. Goes to show the kind of money Daibazzal must make. 

Lance plastered a big smile onto his before muttering “Show time!” And striding out of the elevator. 

Finding Tamara was surprisingly easy. They were given a little office as a green room and shown the stage Keith would be ‘performing’ on. It was a small corner stage, slightly elevated to be seen but not the center of attention. 

Lance had to admit the whole affair was quite nicely laid out. The main room had huge floor to ceiling windows giving a good view of the city; large drapes and dim lights softened the modern architecture. Cocktail tables and stools were scattered around for guests to gather by.

The guests had started to arrive, but Keith wasn’t set to start for another half hour. The timing was perfect because they still needed to get some things ready. He noticed Hunk approach them casually with a plate of hors d'oeuvres. He had already been there for a couple hours gathering intel.

Unfortunately, Lance was the only one light handed enough to pickpocket effectively. He had tried to teach Hunk but the poor guy just didn't seem to be able to do it. 

“Hors d'oeuvre?" Hunk held out the tray to them. 

“Are you having a good evening?” Lance asked as he picked up what looked to be a chicken skewer and a napkin. “It’s a pretty fancy venue, huh?”

“Definitely! There’s also some really interesting people here. I just met the head of development and her assistant.” Hunk pointed to a woman in a long blue dress. 

“I might have to say hello later. Anyone else interesting?” 

The conversation might be a little unusual to anyone listening, but wouldn’t seem too odd. They were using specific language to communicate to avoid suspicion but Hunk was pointing out a potential mark. They needed to steal a key card for Lance to access the labs but the woman Hunk pointed out would clearly not have her card on her beautiful dress; if it was in her bag, well, even Lance’s fingers weren’t that sticky. 

“Hmm. Let’s see.” Hunk thought for a moment. “There was one gentleman in a bright blue suit over there bragging to some ladies about how important his job was. He must be interesting.”

“Ahhh. I see.” Lance nodded. “Austin, why don’t you go back to the green room and warm up. I’ll get us some drinks.”

“Sounds good.” Keith replied and walked away. 

“It was nice to meet you.” Lance nodded to Hunk and walked in the general direction of the bar and where the man Hunk mentioned was. 

The man was casually leaned against one of the tables chatting to a pretty lady. They were getting pretty flirty; she was laughing and touching his arm, he was showing off. Lance would need her to disappear if he wanted a chance at stealing the dude's key card - which was conveniently clipped to his jacket. It would be easier if someone else could get her away, but this was his element. This and actually breaking into places. 

He moved behind the guy and caught the ladies attention, shaking his head and pointing at the guy. Then he held up his left hand and pointed to his ring finger. ‘Married’ he mouthed at the woman. 

The result was instantaneous, her smile dropped and she politely excused herself from the conversation and strode away. Lance smiled to himself, it was really too easy.

He walked up to the guy and slung his arm around his shoulder. 

“Man. That’s a tough break!” Lance said as his fingers were already pulling the card from the jacket. “Such a pretty lady!”

“Yeah. I dunno what happened!” The guy complained. “Dumb broad.”

Lance suppressed an eyeroll. “Whatcha gonna do.” He shrugged, bringing his arm - and the access card - back to his own body and crossed his arms. “As they say, ‘plenty of fish’ especially tonight!” 

“That’s for sure.” The guy eyed him for a second. “Do I know you?”

“Yeah! I’m Jerry. From accounting? We met briefly at that thing a few months ago.” Lance lied easily, searching the guys eyes for any sign of recognition. 

“Oh, Oh yeah! How are you, man?” The guy asked, sounding slightly forced, covering up for his lack of memory. 

“Oh not too bad. You know how it is.” Lance laughed. “If it’s not one thing it's another!”

“You can say that again.” 

“Anyway, I said I would buy a pretty lady in the corner a drink, so I better get back! Just wanted to come say hi!”

“Oh yeah, good luck.”

‘Yeah, you too, man.” 

Lance walked away toward the bar. Thankfully there was no line yet and he got his two drinks and headed back toward the green room, raising a glass to the dude who was chatting up a new lady. 

In the green room, Keith sat on a chair tuning his guitar. Lance placed one drink on the desk beside him.

“You know you're not  _ actually  _ going to be playing, right?”

Keith didn’t look up from his strings. “Yeah but it can’t hurt to be prepared. Besides, what else am I gonna do?”

Lance took a sip of his drink and put it down. 

“I dunno, maybe get any of the other stuff ready?”

“Coms are already set up.” He replied coolly tapping his ear. “You just need to put yours in.”

Their coms were high tech, hardly visible, and very effective. Pidge and Hunk had really outdone themselves. Lance didn’t know all the specs but he knew the mics picked up vibrations of the jaw, picking up the voice perfectly and eliminating all background noise. Only the deepest of bass noises or anything that shook the body would be transmitted. 

Lance picked up his com and carefully wiggled it into his ear. 

“Hey, Gremlin. You hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Blue.” Pidge’s voice was clear in his ear. “Nice moves back there.’

“Too easy.” Lance laughed, knowing she would have already hacked into the security camera and had eyes on the whole building. “Give me a challenge next time.”

Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith's unimpressed glare. 

“Alright. Let’s not jinx ourselves yet.” Allura mildly reprimanded him. 

“Yes ma’am.” He snapped a salute. He could hear her eye roll as well as her sigh. 

There was a knock at their green room door. Lance and Keith exchanged confused and worried glances before Lance answered the door. 

Tamara stepped through the door. 

“Oh good! I’m glad I caught you. There’s been a slight change in the schedule.” Tamara tapped a sheet of paper in her hands. “You were scheduled to start at 7:30, but we need to push it back to 8. They’ve decided they wanted to do the speech  _ before  _ everything now.” Tamara laughed. “I’m sure you know how these things always go.”

Lance laughed with her. “Oh boy, do we ever. You make the perfect schedule that everyone approves and then at the  _ last possible minute _ the higher ups want to change everything.” Lance shook his head. 

“You get it, George.” Tamara laughed and brushed his arm. 

“Thank you for letting us know. 8 won’t be a problem.”

“Perfect. Thank you so much for your understanding.” Tamara took a deep breath. “Okay. Onward and upward!” She gave them a big smile and left again. 

“Organizer wants to push Keith back to 8. We can do that, right?” Lance said so the whole team understood clearly.

“Uuhhhh.” Pidge said. “No, actually.”

“Lance needs to stick to the original time table,” Allura corrected. “But Keith is okay to start half an hour later.”

“What?” Keith asked, there was a tone of distress in his voice that Lance couldn’t figure out.

“There’s still the guard patrol that we need to worry about. We can’t change Lance’s schedule that much without running into the guards.” Shiro explained. “It won’t be a problem though. Nothing else changes. You’ve got this, Keith.”

“Hell yeah you do.” Lance lightly smacked Keith's shoulder. “You don’t need me there when you get on stage.”

There was still a worried pinch between Keith’s brows. Keith wasn’t one for the limelight; he functioned in the dark, in the heat of a fight, in the space between one second and the next. In the original plan, Lance would have been there when Keith took the stage, and, if everything went well, when Keith stepped off again. Now Keith had to face the stage alone.

Lance hadn’t known Keith to get nervous, it seemed a strange emotion on him. He was a little hot headed, a little impulsive but laser focused. He made snap judgements and saw them though, left no room for doubt. When Keith was in his element, he was a force to be reckoned with. This however, was far from his element. Lance had no idea how he would deal - or not deal - with his nerves. And there wasn’t a whole lot of room for error. If Keith was found out, both of their covers were blown and that spelled a whole lot of trouble - especially if Lance was still in the heart of the building. He needed to make sure Keith was prepared for the next hour and a half.

“Hey guys, Keith and I need 5 minutes no coms.” Lance said.

“Why?” Keith gave Lance a confused look. 

“Roger that.” Pidge replied.

Lance removed the com and waited for Keith to do the same. 

“Got something to say you don’t want the rest of the team to hear?” Keith ground out, sounding more defensive than he had just moments before, his fingers gripped the neck of the guitar tightly. 

“Yeah. I wanted to check in with just you.” Lance replied. “The gremlin doesn’t need to know.”

“Oh.” Keith’s fingers loosened on the guitar. “I’m fine.”

“That’s bullshit and we both know it.” Lance said, his tone friendly despite the words. 

“It’s not.” Keith snapped back. 

“Okay, okay.” Lance raised his hands in surrender. “But, hypothetically speaking, if someone  _ was _ nervous about stepping out of their comfort zone in a high pressure situation, I wouldn’t judge them.” Lance lowered his hands and shoved them in his pockets. “I’d likely tell them that they have everything under control and everything will be okay.”

Keith sighed. “Thanks, Lance.”

“The music’s already done, you’ve got the persona perfected, and you definitely look the part. You’re gonna be fine.”

All of it was true, not just empty words; especially that he looked the part. Lance was, not for the first time, marveling at his outfit. Allura must have helped him with it as it was the perfect mix of country singer and fancy event performer. He wore a plain burgundy dress shirt; the top buttons undone with a tease of a silver cross on a chain hanging at his throat. A dark blue suit jacket stretched across his broad shoulders. His slightly distressed dark wash jeans tucked into dark brown leather cowboy boots were secured by a silver oval rodeo belt buckle that had a constellation surrounded by flowers. It looked authentic and well loved, maybe even Keith’s own. And if that didn’t scream well dressed cowboy, the black cowboy hat on top of his low tied ponytail did the trick. 

Lance realized he was staring. Whoops. He coughed and hoped that Keith hadn’t noticed. What was he talking about again? Keith looking hot as fuck? No, that couldn’t have been it. Keith looking the part. That’s right. 

“But, uh, yeah.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, dude. You’ll be great.”

Keith looked up at him with a small smile and nodded. 

“And you’ve got the set list and the gizmo Pidge gave you to control the recording. Just remember to talk to the audience a couple times and dedicate a couple of the love songs to pretty ladies in the audience. You don’t need me there.”

“You’re right.” Keith said with conviction, psyching himself up. 

Lance wasn’t expecting that to sting so much. He knew Keith didn’t need him, but he didn’t need to hear it from his own lips. He slapped a big smile on his face to cover his feelings and mentally chided himself on upsetting himself in the middle of a mission. He had things he needed to prepare still. 

“That’s the spirit.” He laughed, sounding only a little strained. 

“Lance…” Keith said softly, voice full of regret. 

“Anyway!” Lance wasn’t going to give Keith a chance to continue. “We’re on a schedule. I have to get my stuff ready.”

Keith appraised him for a second before nodding once. “Okay.” 

They both put their coms back in their ears and went back to their own tasks. 

“We’re back.” Lance said to inform the rest of the group.

“10 minutes until go time, Blue.” Shiro reminded him. 

“Thanks, Black. I’m getting ready now. Not that there's much to prepare.”

Lance took off his suit jacket and hung it around the only other chair in the corner of the small office. He didn’t have most of his equipment which was a bit nerve wracking, but ideally, this job would be super straight forward. He wouldn’t need his harness or any of his usual rope stuff, but he still felt naked without it. 

He did some light stretching just in case. The key card should get him access to a main office but they weren’t too sure what to expect in terms of other security measures. Pidge was only able to tell him about the security guards. Nothing else could be seen through the security cameras. 

The minutes ticked by and soon it was his time. 

“Okay. Here I go.” Lance grabbed the access card and took a deep breath. 

“Hey, Lance?” Keith stood and looked at him. His eyes were dark and serious. “Be careful.”

“You know it.“ Lance shot him a finger guns and a wink on his way out the door. 

He was walked down the halls away from the gala, hands stuffed into his suit pants pockets, a slight slouch in his posture. At this point if he ran into anyone, he could simply say he was lost. 

“Green, where am I going?” He murmured

“Left at the end of the hall and there’ll be the first locked door.”

“Roger.”

He swiped the card by the lock pad and a green light lit up at the top. He let out a small breath of relief. He slipped through the door and made sure it closed as quietly as possible.

Back here, there was no pretending like he wasn’t a thief. He wouldn’t be able to talk his way out if someone caught him now. He couldn’t afford to slouch around blindly. He took note of every alcove as he passed, every ceiling tile he could potentially move to hide in, every window he could open. These were still the lower levels in terms of secrets and it looked much like any other office building. He would need to make it several more floors up before he got close to his goal. 

  
  


It wasn’t until he was three more floors up that they ran into their first problem. A really fucking big first problem. 

He had swiped the access card and it had declined. Which wouldn’t have been the worst, even though it was only the second locked door that required a card. The douche-bro that owned the card was likely only an intern or lower level office worker. Walking around like he was hot shit. But no. Lance didn't have time to be annoyed at that jack off because the access panel was blinking red at him. 

_ “Access denied.” _ A robotic female intoned at him. “ _ Retinal identification required _ .”

“Green!” Lance hissed. “We have a problem.”

“Shit.”

“ _ Retinal identification required.”  _ The red light started blinking double time. 

“It’s on a timer, Green. It’s gonna trigger an alarm any second.” Lance was trying not to freak out but he was stuck in the middle of enemy territory and there was nothing he could do.

“Oh god. I’m so sorry.” Hunk moaned softly. “If I hadn’t chosen that dude…”

“Yellow,” Shiro’s strained but level voice cut him off. “It’s not your fault but we need to let Green do her thing.”

“Okay.” Hunk’s voice was still worried.

“Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.” Keith’s smooth voice cut through the tense atmosphere. Crap. Was it that time already? “Thank you for having me tonight.” 

Keith gave a worried hmm before speaking again. “I’m sorry, I seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties.” Then he whispered, barely more than a breath just for the team to hear, “Green?”

Pidge make a distressed whining sound. “I’m so sorry, Red. I can’t stop, or Blue…”

There was a brief moment before Keith spoke again. “Ahh, there we go.”

Lance let out a small internal sigh of relief. At least Keith was in the clear. He would hate it if Keith was in trouble because of him. 

Soft, gentle guitar notes started playing in Lance’s ear. That was strange. The coms should only be able to pick up vibrations, not the music coming from the sound system. The only way the coms would be able to pick up the guitar was if Keith was actually playing….

Oh. 

Keith hummed, sending shivers down Lance’s spine. His voice was deep and husky, but soft and smooth like honey. A beautiful waver in time with the notes he played. 

_ Oh. _

“Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.”

Lance honest to god swooned. He didn’t know Keith could sing let alone so beautifully. He also didn’t think he could fall any more madly in love with him. He was wrong on both accounts. Boy was he wrong. 

“Holy shit.” Lance breathed out in awe.

“Let’s keep chatter to a minimum.” Shiro said softly. “The less distractions for Red, the better.”

Everyone hummed their understanding. 

Lance’s eyes fluttered closed as he listened to Keith’s soft, soulful voice in his ear. After a few moments he heard a soft beep but it didn’t register to his conscious.

“Blue?” Pidge called to him softly. “You’re good to go.”

His eyes snapped open to see the light on the top of the keypad was green. He should have noticed that. He coughed. 

“Thanks.”

Pidge chuckled at him. 

He tried to ignore her and snuck through to the next hallway. 

  
  


The next few minutes were quiet other than Keith’s smokey, melancholic voice and the twang of his guitar. The song ended and the last notes hung in the air. Lance couldn’t make too much noise but did his best to whisper-scream in his best impersonation of a large crowd. Pidge whooped so loudly Lance wouldn’t be surprised if passersby could hear her from her hiding place in the van and called the police. 

Keith started the next song by tapping a beat on the guitar. Even when he added a single repetitive note it didn’t help Lance determine what song it was. 

“ Tumble outta bed, and I stumble to the kitchen.” Keith sang with gusto, a twang much like Dolly’s own. “Pour myself a cup of ambition, and yawn and stretch and try to come to life.”

Lance smirked, knowing exactly what song it was now. Anyone who knew anything about Country music knew Dolly Partons’  _ 9 to 5 _ . He could hear how much Keith was enjoying himself. It was infectious. Lance grooved down the hallway, bouncing with each step. Keith’s energy had Allura and Hunk humming along.

Lance joined in at the chorus, singing softly under his breath. 

“ Working 9 to 5, What a way to make a livin'.” He put as much gusto in his quiet singing as he could. Keith’s tone changed slightly as he grinned, evidently enjoying their impromptu duet. “Barely gettin' by, it's all takin', and no givin'.”

The irony was not lost on Lance that he was sneaking around after hours with his vigilante friends to steal highly classified information while singing about putting in an honest day's work. Or maybe it was right in line with the song’s meaning about the rich taking advantage of common folk. 

Either way, the song was over much too soon. Lance would have to bully Keith into singing with him in the future.

The next couple songs he didn’t know as well so he concentrated on his 

surroundings as he made his way higher and higher through the building. He was very near Haggar’s office now, Pidge had determined that she would need access to Haggar or Zarkon’s personal offices; a main lab computer just didn’t have what they needed. While Pidge hadn’t warned him about anything but the guards, it wasn’t good to take his job lightly. 

  
  


“Okay. Take the door to the left and it's the office at the end of the hall.” Pidge whispered to him. 

“Roger that.” He replied. 

He opened the door and froze in his tracks. It looked like a standard office hallway but something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Blue? What’s wrong?” Pidge asked. “That’s the office at the end.”

“I don’t know… Something’s off.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, frowning. “I checked it out already. Nothing seemed off…”

“Just… Give me a minute.” Lance requested. 

“Okay.”

Lance took another critical look down the hallway. What was it that was putting him on edge? It was a hallway to the executives penthouse office which was at the end. There were a few smaller offices near him and then nothing but a small broom closet a few feet from Haggar's office door. 

Why was there a broom closet right beside the executive’s office? That didn’t make sense. And why were the assistants' offices crammed over here with nothing down the hall?

He scanned the walls and ceiling for anything. He noticed something there. And there. And there. 

“Hey Green,” Lance whispered. “Can you run a test for a laser grid?”

“What?!” Allura almost screeched. “There was nothing in the floor plan like that.”

Lance snorted. “Oh I’m sure they just forgot to include it. Totally not something that was installed in secret because it’s super illegal.”

“Blue.” Shiro said, sounding like the tired father figure he was. “No need for that. Green?”

“I’m doing a scan right now.” 

After a tense moment Pidge let out a breath. “Fuck. How could I have missed it?”

“I don’t have anything to make the lasers visible. Anything you can do?”

There was some furious clicking of keys. Pidge must have been very enthusiastic for the com to be picking it up. 

“I might be able to…… fuck. This is going to take a while.”

“We don’t have a while.” Shiro sounded worried. “Blue needs to be back in 30 minutes.”

“It’s okay. I’ll manage.” Lance sounded more confident than he felt. “Are we talking about ‘setting off an alarm’ lasers or ‘cut me in half’ lasers?”

“Don’t joke about that, Blue.” Allura chided but the concern was clear in her voice. 

“Thank you very much. I'll be back in 10 minutes.” Keith’s smooth drawl interrupted them. 

“I can’t tell. Just assume they’re the “kill you” kind.” Pidge answered. “I can turn the main lights off to let you see the base of the lazer, but I can’t do anything to make the line visible.”

“Got it. It’ll be better than nothing.” Lance tried to psych himself up. “Okay. I got this. Just try not to die.”

“Blue.” Keith’s voice was back to his normal accent, filled with worry. Lance could practically see the scowl on his face. “You’ve got this. You are the best of us for this work. I know you can do it.”

Well. When Keith put it that way, who was he to doubt himself now. He took a deep breath. 

“Right. Thanks, Red. Kill the lights.”

It didn’t help as much as he would have liked, but there were tiny pin pricks of red that he could see on every surface now. At least they weren’t moving. He counted it as a blessing. 

He studied the points of red for a few more moments. They were at every level. He wasn’t going to be able to walk through. He was going to have to do acrobatics down the hall. 

He planned out his route, his moves, his angles. Down to the millimeter. 

“Okay.”

He started with a cartwheel then did a one handed round off. He arched and jumped higher than usual to avoid a knee height laser. Then he did a two foot hop into a tumble roll but, to avoid another laser, he had to stop immediately and jump up into a hands free cartwheel. Lastly, he had to perform a horizontal aerial roll to get him over a waist height mesh of lasers and see him out of the grid. He landed by Haggar's door and paused, took a deep breath and waited for the sirens to start. 

“Oh my god.” Pidge breathed out in awe. “You did it.”

Lance sagged against the wall. “You know it. You better save that footage. I want it for my Tailor portfolio.” He summoned as much bravado as possible. 

The team’s collective sigh of relief and chuckles loosened the tension. 

“Just for you.” Pidge said, smirking. “Now, hold your watch up to the handle. Time to flex  _ my _ skills.”

Lance laughed and did as she instructed. Soon there was a soft click and he opened the door. He spotted the computer right away and made his way to it. Taking his watch off, he popped the back off to reveal a USB hub which he plugged into the computer.

“You’re up, Gremlin.”

The actual hacking part wasn’t that exciting for him. He was a bit on edge just chilling in Haggar's office but he knew Shiro or Allura were watching the security camera and would warn him if anything happened. 

He sat down in the big comfy looking chair, propped his feet up on the desk and leaned back with his hands behind his head. 

It only took a few minutes and Pidge was telling him she had what she needed. 

As he closed the office door, he looked at the broom closet. 

“Hey Green, if you had access to the laser grid machinery do you think you could take it offline?”

“What? You don’t wanna do that again?” She asked, teasing. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Lance opened the door to the broom closet. As he suspected, it wasn’t filled with cleaning supplies. 

“Can you see?”

“Not enough. Video call me.”

Lance pulled out his phone and called Pidge’s phone, camera pointing into the room. 

“Hmmmm. It’s nothing I can hack into to stop it.” Pidge said. “Yellow, can you take a call?”

“Yup. Just gimme one minute.”

Lance added Hunk to the call and listened to them figure out how to turn it off without breaking it. 

“Guys. 20 minutes until Blue needs to be back.” Shiro cut off their discussion. “Pick something.”

“Okay. Blue?” Hunk said. “Take that blue wire and pull very gently. Then make a small cut in just the insulation.”

Lance took out a small pocket knife that he always carried as part of his kit and did as instructed. “Okay.”

“Great. Now touch the exposed wires to the metal frame. That should give you 20 seconds while it reboots the system. So once you do, move fast.”

“Got it. Thanks guys.” He ended the call and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. 

He made it out of the laser hallway as Keith took to the stage again. If he was lucky he would be back for the last couple songs of his set. 

Keith played a couple songs before Lance recognized one. Keith tapped on the guitar a few times before singing.

“Stand on the box, Stomp your feet, Start clappin', I got a real good feelin' somethin' bad is 'bout to happen.” Then he started strumming with powerful chords. It was the kind of song that made a good theme for his line of work.

“Hah. Wouldn’t it be funny if something bad happened right now.” Lance said with a smirk.

“Blue,” Allura snapped. 

“Jeeze, it was a joke.” Lance rolled his eyes. 

“No, there’s a guard breaking the routine. He’s on his way down the next hallway and coming your way.” 

“You gotta hide.” Pidge said.

Lance looked up and down the hallway. There was nothing to hide in or behind. He tried the closest office door only to find it locked. Shit. 

“Blue.” Pidge said more urgently. 

“I know I know. There’s nowhere though.” Lance hissed. 

The windows didn’t open in this hallway. The ceiling tiles were his only option. He tried to jump up but only managed to brush the tile, shifting but not moving it out of the way. 

“ _ Lance! _ ” Pidge hissed. 

The door at the end of the hallway opened revealing a large security guard. 

“Shit.” Lance said under his breath.

“Who the fuck’re you?!” The guard stood in shock for a moment. 

Lance held his hands up in a placating manner. “Hey, I’m an inspector. I’m, uh, checking the heating panels.”

“Can I see your badge?” 

Lance held his ground as the guard approached. Everyone listening in held their breath. The only sound was Keith still singing away but his voice was strained, no trace of the velvet tones from minutes earlier. 

“Oh, of course.” He patted his pockets as if looking for the badge. 

He had no idea how he was going to manage to get out of this situation. He barely caught the fist out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t have time to dodge though and the blow landed right in his solar plexus, winding him entirely. He grunted and staggered back a few steps, hunched over holding his stomach. 

“Okay, is this how we’re gonna do it?”

“Lance!” Pidge cried. 

Allura gasped. 

Keith stopped playing suddenly and there was a clatter of his stool as he stood.

“Red.” Shiro said as a warning. 

“Don’t you fucking dare, Red.” Lance grit out through his teeth with as much force as possible; it was difficult as he still hadn’t caught his breath. “I’ve got this. Do you trust me?”

After a tense moment, Keith sneezed. 

“I’m sorry.” He growled directing his frustration to the team rather than the audience over his fake sneeze. 

His fingers strummed the strings again and the faint twang of the guitar came over the com. Keith began singing again, his anger adding to the twang of the song, easing some of Lance’s tension. 

“ I got a real good feelin' somethin' bad is 'bout to happen.”

“I’m sorry too, Red. I’m sure this is difficult.” Lance murmured back. “Although, having you as the live soundtrack to my epic fight scene is pretty great.” He smirked. 

Pidge snickered at that and Lance could hear the slight up turn of Keith’s lips. 

“What the fuck are you on about.” The guard in front of him growled.

“Don’t worry about it man. Thanks for waiting though.”

Apparently that was the end of the guards patience as he came in with another swing. Lance managed to dodge this one and landed an uppercut to his jaw. It sent the guy reeling but far from taking him out of the fight. It would take all Lance had, or maybe more, to defeat him.

They scuffled around the hallway. Lance taking a few hits and landing a few more. The guard was huge. And fast. He barely gave Lance enough time to register incoming attacks, let alone get a good idea of his surroundings while dodging and weaving. 

Some small part in the very back of his mind was thankful for all the training with Keith. He definitely wouldn’t have been able to put up a fight like this last year. 

The guard went to sweep his legs from under him. Lance hopped over and to the side avoiding what would have toppled him. Unfortunately, he realized a moment too late, he jumped into a slight alcove of an office door. Although it was only a few inches, it effectively hampered his movements - and escape path. 

He turned to duck around the guard and headed toward the open hallway but he was too slow. 

Large arms shot out and wrapped around his neck, hauling him backwards. He was caught in a rear choke hold.

Lance started to panic as he struggled to breathe. His hands scrambled uselessly over the man’s large forearms. He wheezed as he tried to remember what Keith taught him. 

“Oh god, oh god.” Hunk’s whimpering, while justified, did not help. He would normally elbow him to get him to be quiet. 

_ Elbows. _ Lance remembered his lesson with Keith. With the last of his breath, he leaned to the side and elbowed the guard as hard as he could. He was suddenly hunched over, the guard grunting in his ear. Lance swept his leg around behind the guards, wrapped both arms around his middle, and hauled his weight backward with as much adrenaline induced strength as he could. 

They were both toppling over. The guard let go of Lance to break his fall and barely managed to not crack his head open on the hard floor. 

Lance bounced up right away, adrenaline overriding everything else. 

“Blue. Press both buttons on the watch and point it at the guard.” Pidge rushed. 

Lance did so and watched as a small cord flew out. 

“What…?”

“Handcuffs!” Pidge yelled as the guard got to their feet again. 

Lance got the general idea and managed to kick the guard over again and wrestle the cord around his wrists. The cord snapped together tightly, securing the guards wrists.

“Now what?” Lance started panicking. The guard was a far cry form incapacitated. 

“Blue, You’ve got this.” Shiro’s calm voice grounded him. “First take his radio and crush it. Then take your tie and gag him as best you can with it. There’s not much else you can do, so don’t dawdle.”

“Right.” 

Lance did as instructed and took off toward the main reception, hoping they would make it out before the alarms went off. 

  
  


“This is my last song of the night.” Keith said. “And I would like to dedicate it to somebody special.”

Lance was only a few hallways away now; he would be able to see Keith on stage for at least a couple minutes. 

The chords from the guitar were lively and upbeat but had a softness to them. 

“They way your fingers fit in mine, it’s five plus five not rocket science. ” Keith’s voice had a happy twang but there was a soft nostalgic edge to it, as if holding hands with his lover.

Lance could hear that small,  _ loving _ smile that he had sometimes when he didn’t think anyone was watching. He quickened his pace, needing to see him right away.

He finally made it back to the main room and stopped in his tracks when he saw Keith on the stage; his breath caught in his throat. 

Keith had lost the jacket and was sitting on the stage under a soft spotlight. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows; hat tipped down casting his face in shadows as he strummed. The guitar sat in his lap, his arms gently cradling it, his strong fingers deftly playing the strings. Lance swallowed. 

As if sensing he was there, Keith looked up and made eye contact. The whole room dropped away and Keith seemed to be singing just for him. Keith’s smile widened a fraction more and his eyes crinkled almost imperceptibly. Lance only noticed because he had spent so long studying Keith’s face and the subtle changes in his expressions. 

“It's like one, two, three. Just as easy as can be. Just the way you look at me. You make me smile.”

Lance reeled. He could almost believe that he was the one Keith dedicated the song to. The one he was singing for as they locked eyes across the room. He really wished it could be true. He let that hope swirl in his chest for a few more bars, before Keith had to look down at his strings for a moment. 

The spell was broken and Lance took a steadying breath. He gently pushed his hopes to the side with a feeling of soft melancholy and crossed the room. He reached the stage by the end of the song and waited for Keith at the step. 

“You were great!” He plastered a big smile on. He was happy but he didn’t want Keith to see the sad edges. 

“Of course I was, George.” Keith drawled, a teasing twinkle in his eye.

Lance chuckled genuinely. He may not be Keith’s chosen one, but they had this. They were still close friends. 

“Alright, Cowboy.” Lance clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s pack up and get you home.”

Shiro congratulated all three of them as Allura drove back to their HQ. Hunk had joined them outside by the van; abandoning the servers too soon but Voltron had what they needed and there was no point sticking around. (Lance may or may not have spent hours convincing Hunk that sticking around too long would have only led to trouble regardless of if it left the caterer a little short handed.)

Soon they were back in the safety of the Headquarters. Pidge got to work right away, setting up her laptop next to her desktop computer in the corner of the room. Hunk sat with her as they sifted through the data while Shiro and Allura examined their crime board again. 

They would likely be adding to it tonight. With any luck, Lance’s brush with danger gained them valuable intel. 

“Would you like a drink?” Keith came up beside him. 

“That would be great.” Lance chuckled. “Let’s just pop over next door to get one.”

Keith stared at him dead pan and unimpressed. They both knew there wasn’t a bar within five miles let alone next door. 

“I bought some ciders before the mission, Jackass.”

“Oh.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks.”

Keith rolled his eyes and went to the corner where they kept a few appliances and some light food for when they were there for hours. That was an addition that Hunk had brought with him when he started working with Voltron. Keith grabbed a couple bottles from the mini fridge and put a pod in the instant coffee machine. The coffee was likely for Pidge. Lance remembered the first time Keith had tried to stop her drinking coffee late at night. He thought it was sweet, but Pidge had laid into Keith so bad that he always made her coffee now when they got back and she had work to do. 

“Gremlin.” Keith called out. “Coffee.”

Hunk clapped Pidges shoulder. “I got it.”

Keith came back over to where Lance was sitting as Hunk grabbed the coffee and another bottle of cider. Lance took his drink from Keith as the other took a seat in one of the only other comfy chairs in their office. 

“Thanks Keith.” Hunk raised the bottle in a toast on his way back to helping Pidge. 

Lance tried not to stare too much at his companion as they sipped their drinks in silence. Keith hadn’t changed and was still wearing his country singer outfit. The way his forearms flexed as he fiddled with the bottle clutched between his fingers was not fair. He was leaning back in his chair, much like Lance was, but the fiddling told Lance there was something on his mind. Until he was ready to say something, Lance decided to voice his own thoughts.

“So,” Lance smirked. “You can sing.”

Keith chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah… I don’t like doing so in front of people though.”

“Why not?!” Lance squawked. “You’re so good, dude.”

“Woah. Are you actually complimenting me?”

“Don’t get used to it. That’s just how impressed I am.”

“Now you’re impressed?” Keith’s eyebrows shot up in his exaggerated disbelief. “Is this real? Did I actually die back there and this is the afterlife?”

Lance smacked Keith’s arm lightly with the back of his hand. “If this is your afterlife, it’s really lame, man.”

“I dunno, it’s pretty okay.” Keith replied with a soft edge to his voice. 

“No!” Lance said, pointedly ignoring the tone and looking at Keith altogether. “You should _ at least _ have some cool touch screen boards, and a fully stocked kitchen, and a cool car-”

“What’s wrong with my motorcycle?!” Keith gasped. 

Lance opened his mouth to retort and then closed it again. “Actually, nothing. The bike is pretty cool. Everything else though!”

“Fine, fine. This isn’t the afterlife. Afterlife Lance wouldn’t make fun of me for having a lame afterlife.” Keith smirked. “But thanks. For the compliment.”

“You deserve it.” Lance took a sip from his drink. “Now that we know, does that mean you’ll sing for us more often?”

“Fuck no.” 

“Oh c’mooonnnnn.” 

“No _. _ ”

“Pleeaasseee.”

“ _ Stop _ .”

“Fine.” Lance pouted. “But I will win you over eventually. Nobody can resist the McClain charm forever.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you say, Lance.” Keith sounded doubtful and took another sip from his drink.

They dropped back into silence. Keith still clearly had something on his mind. 

Finally, Keith spoke up. “You had me really worried back there. You had us all worried.”

“Awwee, Mr. Broody Lone Wolf was worried about me?” Lance crooned. He didn't miss the displeased press of Keith’s lips or the way his brows came together. He softened his tone to continue. “But honestly, it was thanks to you that I came out of it alright.” 

“I had nothing to do with it. That was all you, Lance.” Keith looked at him concerned, eye flicking between Lance’s as if trying to read him. “You know that, right?”

“Yes, obviously tonight was me.” Lance rolled his eyes. “I meant, in general. Without you teaching me to fight, spending all those hours training with me… Tonight might have gone... a lot differently.” Lance looked back into Keith’s eyes, trying to express how much he appreciated all the time they had spent together. 

“Oh…” Keith’s expression changed into something Lance couldn’t read. 

Lance laughed and clinked his bottle against Keith’s to break the tension. “But it all turned out alright in the end.”

“Yeah…”

“Found something!” Pidge cried from her corner. 

Lance downed the rest of his drink and heaved himself to his feet. “Might be a long night. Another?”

Keith nodded. “Please. I’ll grab you a chair.”

Lance grabbed another couple bottles and took a seat in the folding chair Keith had grabbed for him next to Pidge’s desk. The rest of them were already seated. 

“So I found a mention to LoveBug.” Hunk started. “Daibazall Pharmaceuticals definitely created it.”

Both Shiro and Allura hummed in concern. 

“That’s not even the worst of it.” Pidge continued from where Hunk left off. “We also discovered that they’ve created a cure called Quintessence.”

“Why? What’s the point?” Keith scowled. 

“Well. LoveBug is highly toxic and will cause death if left untreated. Quintessence is the only cure, however, it is also highly addictive. It looks like it has some pretty bad side effects if you stop taking it too. It’s pretty ingenious, really.”

“Get the people to take your lethal street drug, and then offer them a cure they will have to buy for many years.” Allura said darkly, crossing her arms across her chest. “That sounds just like Daibazall.”

“If we don’t stop this,” Shiro frowned, “there will be a whole generation addicted to Quintessence.”

“Precisely.” Pidge concluded, enlarging a demographics pie chart with a large dollar figure on the side. 

Lance whistled. “That's a lot of money.”

“Is there anything else you’ve found?” Shiro asked. “Locations, times, people?”

“Yeah, it’s taking a while to sift through and decode though.” Pidge replied. “They really went all out with their security.”

Shiro sighed. “Okay. Keep us updated.”

“Shiro,” Allura said. “You better let Adam know it’ll be a long night here.”

“I’ll let him know in a bit. We should look through the info Pidge has managed to decode.”

Allura leveled a glare at her partner. “Shiro. Call your husband right now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Shiro looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and left the room for some privacy. 

Lance grabbed the pictures that Pidge was printing out and took them to the board. He couldn’t help with the decoding, but he could update the board. 

Keith helped him pin the new pictures and connect them to the current web with string. 

“Man. This is awful.” Lance muttered to himself. 

“We’ll be able to stop them.” Keith bumped his shoulder against Lance’s. “We always manage it in the end.”

“I hope you’re right.” Lance kept scowling at the board, arm crossed across his chest. 

“Lance. You’re starting to look like me in that pose.” Keith bumped his shoulder again. “C’mon. Lets get another drink.”

“Oh no!” Lance fake gasped. “We can’t have that. There’s only enough room for one grumpy emo in this gang.”

Keith rolled his eyes and led the way back to their comfy chairs. 

“We’re likely not going to be able to help these guys. Why don’t you head home?” Keith asked. 

“I’m sharing cab fare with Hunk.” Lance replied with a half shrug taking a swig of his drink. “Plus, I think he’s still on edge from what Coran said. I’ve been making sure he’s never alone when doing any kind of Voltron stuff. Especially coming and going from here.”

Keith hummed thoughtfully. 

“What about you?” Lance continued. “If you’re gonna ride home you better stop drinking.”

“I have nothing better to do. I’ll just crash with Shiro.”

“Well then. Another round?”

Keith downed the rest of his drink and nodded. “Off you go.”

“So demanding. I got the last one!”

“And I bought them so….”

“Fine.” Lance finished his drink and stood up. He stuck his tongue out before turning away. 

They shared another couple drinks, chatting and teasing while watching the rest of them work. Lance was really starting to feel the alcohol. He wasn’t  _ drunk _ yet, but he wasn’t  _ not  _ drunk either. 

“Hey, you go to school, right?” Keith asked, out of the blue. 

“Uhhh, yeah. I’m taking a couple classes to maintain a part time status.” Lance lifted an eyebrow, asking why the sudden topic. 

“Why?” Keith asked bluntly, the alcohol affecting him as well. 

“Why? Why do I go to school?”

“Yeah. You’re really good at your day job. Your night job?” Keith looked thoughtfully confused for a brief moment. “Your Tailor job.” He decided. 

Lance raised his eyebrows in surprise. Was Keith actually  _ complimenting  _ him? 

“We don’t hurt for money with Voltron, and you’re amazing as the Tailor. So why go to school?”

“Well.” Lance thought about it for a minute. “I take classes to help with the Tailor stuff. I take criminal law courses. I’ve learned about the whole crime process from the legal side. From due process, to your rights when you’ve been charged, to how court proceedings go. And some Psych classes on the side for how humans function so I can lie better.”

“Oh...” Keith’s eyes widened, looking even more impressed. 

“Nah, it’s not that impressive. It just helps me keep out of trouble, even when I do get caught. I learn cool helpful things.”

“It is impressive, Lance.”

“Like, did you know, that you cannot legally be asked to testify against your spouse in a court of law. Like, if we got married, even if we were caught, we wouldn’t have to testify against each other.” Wait. What was he saying? Why was his mouth betraying him? It was true, but why was he saying it? Oblivious to his internal panic, his mouth kept going. “Talk about the ultimate power move.” He laughed. 

Something changed in Keith’s expression. Fuck. Keith’s gonna catch on to his feelings and things will get weird. Abort. Abort. Abort. 

“Lol. As if. Sorry, I shouldn’t -”

“No, no.” Keith said seriously, his brows pinched together in thought. “You’re onto something there. Plus like, the whole prisoner's dilemma thing. You’d trust your actual spouse not to turn on you.”

“Wait. What?”

“The prisoner's dilemma. When the cops ask each prisoner to rat out their accomplice for reduced time and if they don’t they could get significantly more time if the other does.”

“No, not that. I know what the prisoner’s dilemma is.” Lance waved a hand. “You don’t think it’s a terrible idea? Us getting...”

“I mean, not really...”

“Would you wanna…?”

“If you do…” Keith’s eyes intense despite his tentative words.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say no…” 

“Okay.” Keith said decisively. 

“Okay.” Lance said not knowing what the fuck just happened but certainly not complaining about it either. “Tomorrow?”

“Sure. Courthouse at 3?”

“I’ve always wanted an afternoon wedding.” Lance chuckled. 

Keith just looked at him and laughed. 

“Hey.” Pidged looked across the room at them suspiciously. “What are you two drunk idiots laughing about?”

Lance and Keith shared another look and laughed even harder. 

“Probably us being nerds or something.” Hunk sighed. “Lance, you ready to head home?”

“Yeah, Buddy.” Lance got up and staggered a bit. He grabbed Keith’s shoulder to steady himself. “I’ll be right there.”

Hunk came over and slung an arm around Lance’s waist, helping him walk in a straight line and out of the building. 

“Bye, Keith.” Hunk said. 

“Yeah, see you later, Keith.” Lance smirked. 

“Bye, Hunk. Lance.” Keith lounged back in his chair and gave a casual wave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey we could get married. Lol jk.... unless 👀👀👀
> 
> I listened to a lot of country songs while writing this chapter. This is the song I used for reference and I like to imagine Keith sounding something like this.   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U84NA0vnwkA&list=PLE3xKDrEZ0_bTrRgOAXorpHkM2uSih3fA&index=1  
> The songs that he sings are:  
> Take me home country roads  
> 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton  
> Somethin Bad - Miranda Lambert (the fight scene)  
> Simple - Georgia Florida Line
> 
> Another thank you to Spartona for helping with the songs and outfit ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding time! And a drug bust.

It was a lovely, rare sunny day for February. Lance stood on the courthouse steps and checked his watch. 2:40. Okay, so he  _ might _ have gone a little overboard this morning. After he had woken up and stopped feeling like dying. He had made a big breakfast and had a couple hours to get excited about his  _ wedding _ . He rented a white tux and bought some nice rings that sat in a little box in his pocket. 

He had always been a romantic and had daydreamed about what his wedding would be like. He never thought that he would get married under these circumstances, but he never could have imagined a better partner. That excitement got him through the morning. 

However, as he stood all alone, waiting for Keith to show up, he grew more and more anxious. He really had gone too overboard. This was supposed to be a casual marriage of convenience, not feelings. What if Keith made fun of him for getting the suit, or got awkward about the rings? What if he didn't show up at all? They hadn't really talked that morning...

Lance couldn’t help but tap his foot, a small release for his strung out nerves. One hand on his hip and he checked the time again. 2:42. Lance scrubbed his hand down his face. Jesus Christ. Just another 15 minutes. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change out of the suit...

“Lance?”

Lance spun on his heel at the sound of his name. Keith stood before him looking slightly apprehensive. He looked good. Really good. He was dressed in a sharp black suit that accentuated his broad shoulders and slim figure, with a dark red shirt and midnight blue tie. He had a small red and blue boutonniere attached to his lapel. His hair was nicely brushed and tied back into a low ponytail. 

Keith stopped in his tracks and swallowed hard. 

“Hey.” Lance said breathlessly.

“Hey…” Keith sounded equally out of breath. “I bought you a…” He pulled out a little plastic box with another boutonniere and opened it. It was a small crimson rose and a blue carnation with a small sprig of baby’s breath, held together with a purple ribbon. 

Keith took it out of the box and attached it to Lance’s lapel. He stood right in Lance’s space, only a breath away. A small scowl of concentration on his face as he pinned it in place. Lance hoped that Keith couldn’t feel how hard his heart was beating under his hands.

“The lady showed me how to.” Keith explained. 

When he was happy with how it was sitting, he took a step back and the corner of his mouth quirked up. Lance knew he was not able to hide his own sappy smile or the soft look in his eye. 

They made eye contact for a long, intense moment.

Lance coughed and motioned toward the courthouse. “Shall we?” 

“Yeah. Yes.” Keith said as if coming out of a daze. “Let’s.”

  
  
  


They were lucky that there was a last minute cancellation and an officiant was available. Neither of them had really thought too much about the logistics of the marriage. The lady behind the desk rolled her eyes as they argued over last names. In the end they decided to keep their own. 

The ceremony was very basic. The vows were a standard non-secular version. The officiant had to ask the front desk lady and a random intern in the halls to come witness and sign their marriage certificate. 

Lance just laughed. This is what they get for being two hot-headed, impulsive people. 

The officiant heaved a sigh. “If you had rings, this is the part I would say you can exchange them.”

“Oh. I have rings. That’s the only thing I did right.” Lance laughed. 

“What?” Keith looked at him surprised. 

Lance loved how his eyes widened and his mouth parted slightly, shocked that Lance would care enough to get him a ring. God he wanted to kiss him right now. 

“Of course. They aren’t much but…” He shrugged with one shoulder and pulled the box out of his pocket. He popped it open to reveal two gold bands. One had a row of three rubies and the other had a row of three sapphires. 

Lance took the ring with the rubies out with one hand and gently grabbed Keith’s hand with the other, shifting the box as he did. He concentrated on sliding the ring onto Keith’s finger but he saw the emotion filling Keith’s features out of the corner of his eye. 

“I, Landor Alvarez Nunez Carlos Enzo McClain, take you, Keith Kogane, to be my lawfully wedded husband, until death do us part.” He knew his voice was filled with too much emotion, but he couldn't hide it. 

Keith grabbed the other ring and slid it onto Lance’s finger. Strong, calloused fingers held his hand gently. 

“And I, Keith Kogane, take you, Landor Alvarez Nunez Carlos Enzo McClain, to be my lawfully wedded husband, until death do us part.” Keith murmured, equally as softly. 

“By the power vested in me by the City of Altea, I now pronounce you married.”

This is the part where they should kiss. Lance didn’t want to take it too far - he resolutely ignored the part of his brain that screamed this was already too far - but he also wanted to do something with the moment.

He stepped right into Keith’s space. Usually, Lance never noticed the difference in their height, but right now, the inch that Keith had on him was hard to ignore as he stared up into those gorgeous dark grey eyes. 

Keith seemed to almost hold his breath as Lance closed the distance. He reached up and tucked a stray stand of hair behind Keith’s ear. He let his hand rest cupping Ketih’s jaw.

“I couldn’t ask for a better partner in crime.” He murmured with a small smile. 

Keith chuckled softly. “We do make a good team.” His gaze flicked down for a moment before he wet his lips. 

The heat of the moment clouded his judgement and Lance stepped back before he was truly tempted to press their lips together.

“Thank you for seeing us so last minute.” Lance turned abruptly to the officiant with sudden energy, trying to break the mood. “We just couldn’t wait to get married.”

“Here’s your certificate. Please be careful with it.” They handed it over in a clear plastic protective folder. “Congratulations.”

They left the office with Lance’s heart still pounding in his chest. 

  
  
  


“Keith!” Lance pestered as they stepped back outside. The late afternoon sun was starting to set, casting everything in a warm glow. “We can’t call this a proper wedding without cake!”

Lance turned to see Keith’s face fall in disappointment. 

“Oh, I, uh, didn’t get any…” There was a worried tone in his voice that Lance hated. 

“What? No. Of course not.” Lance had to stop whatever negative train of thought Keith was currently on. “I meant we should go get cake. There’s a great bakery a couple blocks over that does  _ amazing _ cupcakes.” Lance leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. “Maybe even better than Hunk’s. But you can’t tell him.”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. 

Lance linked arms with Keith, shot him a big grin, and led the way. “You’ll see.”

  
  
  


“You two look fancy.” The lady behind the counter smiled at them as they stepped up to the counter to place their order. “Special occasion?”

“Thanks!” Lance beamed and held up his left hand, showing off his wedding band. “You could say it’s a special day.”

“Oh my goodness! Congratulations! Are you here to pick up a special order?”

“No, we just wanted a couple cupcakes. Two earl grey and vanilla, please.”

“And 2 coffees.” Keith added.

Lance shot a surprised look at his friend. 

“I think we can splurge for a drink on our wedding day.” Keith smirked. 

“Coming right up. You two are so cute together.” The barista smiled again and turned away to get their things. 

Lance and Keith moved to the side, still arm in arm, chatting about nothing in particular. The barista came back soon with their drinks and cupcakes on plates. They took their food outside to one of the little patio tables and sat down. 

“Keith, we have to feed each other the first bite.” Lance said as he skooched his chair closer. “It’s tradition. 

“Okay.”

Lance was expecting some sort of complaint, not the soft smile and the laughter in his eyes.

Lance picked up Keith’s cupcake and lifted it to his mouth. He swore, he was only trying to dab the icing on his nose a little bit. He didn’t know if it was the excitement, the nerves, or if Keith leaned forward but a little dab turned into shoving the cupcake into his nose and smearing it over his cheek. 

Keith’s eyes widened comically in surprise before narrowing at Lance. Lance enjoyed the brief moment of hilarity before realizing he was in trouble. 

“Oh fuck”

Keith leaned forward and grabbed the other cupcake and, much less carefully, shoved it in Lance’s face; icing and cake all over. 

“Oh you…” Lance growled, grabbing Keith’s still mostly undamaged cupcake and just smooshing and rubbing it all over his face. Lance laughed maniacally as he did, Keith tried pushing him away and only managed to smear cake all over his white rental tux. 

Lance leaned back for a moment before sliding a finger up Keith’s cheek, collecting a large dollop of cake and icing and plopping it in his own mouth. 

A dozen different emotions crossed Keith’s face, too fast for Lance to read before settling into a scowl. 

“You ruined my cupcake.” Keith crossed his arms. 

Lance threw his head back and laughed. There was something adorable about seeing Keith pouting with cake all over his face. After a moment he heard Keith join in. 

“I’ll get us more cupcakes.” Lance said. 

“I’ll come with. I want a different one.” 

“You didn’t even try that one!”

“I did. Some got in my mouth.” 

Keith’s tongue peeked out and wiped a clump of icing at the corner of his mouth. Lance followed the movement closely; his mouth went suddenly very dry and his chest constricted. 

“See?” Keith smirked

Lance swallowed hard, trying to look like he wasn’t flustered all of a sudden . “Yeah.”

His voice was far too hoarse to be natural. Keith’s smirk widened in response. 

  
  
  


The barista took one look at them and laughed. He supposed they looked a real mess. 

She handed them a bunch of extra napkins with the new cupcakes. 

“Do you mind if I take your picture?” she asked. “This is the best thing that’s happened all week and my boss will be pissed she missed it.”

Lance laughed and looked to Keith. 

“Sure.” Keith shrugged. 

Lance made Keith hold both new cupcakes for the photo and slung one arm around his husband's waist and threw up a peace sign with the other, smiling broadly at the camera. 

“Cheeeeeese.”

There was a flash and a click and then the barista was cooing at her phone. She turned to show them the photo. Keith was standing awkwardly but had that small smile on his lips as he gazed at Lance.

“Hey, actually, would you mind sending that to me?”

“Sure! Just type your number in.”

Lance did and received the picture almost right away. As they sat back down at their table, Lance set the photo as his home screen. 

Lance looked up to see Keith holding his cupcake up for him. 

“Do you wanna try again?”

“You’re not gonna smush it in my face again are you?” Lance laughed. 

Keith shook his head. “Trust me?”

And, well, Lance would trust Keith with his life, there’s no way he could say no. Especially when Keith asked softly, almost apprehensively, like that.

Lance leaned forward and took a nibble and smiled tenderly at Keith. “Thanks.”

Lance held up the other cupcake for Keith, who took a bigger bite and ended up with icing on his nose anyway. He went crossed eyed trying to look at it. 

Lance grabbed a napkin and wiped it off for him with a chuckle. 

  
  
  


There was only a week left to stop the Galra from releasing LoveBug. Pidge had spent the whole of Sunday, while Lance and Keith were getting married, decoding and examining the data. So Monday morning, they were all meeting at Volton HQ again. 

“Okay everyone.” Allura called out once they had all arrived. “Please have a seat.”

Lance finished making his coffee and sauntered over to where everyone was sitting by Pidge’s computer. Lance saw Keith sitting in his folding chair when a thought crossed his mind. He couldn’t pass up a golden opportunity to tease Keith, and, I mean, they  _ were _ married now. 

He plopped down in Keith’s lap, slung one arm around his shoulders, and took a sip of his coffee. He felt Keith instantly go rigid beneath him.

“There’s an empty seat  _ right there _ .” Keith said stiffly. 

“I know.” Lance smirked.

Shiro heaved a sigh. “Lance. Please stop pushing Keith’s buttons.” He sounded like a tired father. 

Lance sighed melodramatically and slowly stood. “Fiiiiinnnneeeeee.”

“Whoops.” Pidge accidentally smacked a dry erase marker off her desk. 

Everyone watched as it fell and rolled to a stop at Lance’s feet. Lance looked up at Pidge. Pidge looked back at him expectantly and made no move to uncross her legs to retrieve it herself. Lance rolled his eyes and bent to grab the marker. 

He heard a strangled choking sound from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and realized he was much too close to Keith. Bent over right in front of him.

Keith’s eyes were blown wide, eyebrows raised, jaw slack in surprise. There was a blush riding high on his cheeks as he stared at Lance’s ass. He looked flustered and embarrassed.

Lance felt blood rush to his face and snapped upright immediately. He took a big step away and roughly shoved the marker into Pidge’s hands. She gave him the biggest shit eating grin. 

“Thanks Lance.” Her tone was smug and gleeful.

Lance growled under his breath as he sat down in the empty chair. His face felt like it was on fire.

“S-Sorry, Keith.” Lance apologized. 

“I-it’s fine.” Keith’s voice was high and strained. His cheeks were still tinged pink. He refused to look in Lance’s direction, his eyes locked dead ahead. 

Lance swallowed thickly and tried to push his embarrassment deep, deep down. He meant to tease Keith a little, not shove his butt in his face. Pidge totally did that on purpose. He would plot his revenge when he wasn’t hoping for the earth to open up and swallow him whole, never to be seen again. 

The small part of his brain that wasn't absolutely mortified, wondered why Keith was so flustered. He didn’t usually lose his cool, even when worse stuff happened with the others. Allura literally fell into his arms from a truck bed once. Was there something wrong with Lance? Was it because they were married now and Keith thought Lance had a real crush on him? 

He pushed down the sudden wave of insecurity. Anyone would be that flustered if that happened. It had nothing to do with Lance himself. Nothing had changed between them and Keith still didn’t feel that way for him. They were just friends that were married. Friends with benefits. Wait. No. Not those benefits. Lance flushed even harder at the thought. Friends with  _ legal _ benefits. Friends that - 

“Yes, right.” Allura said clapping her hands together, totally ignoring the awkwardness between the two men and pulling Lance from his flustered spiral. “Now that everyone’s settled. Pidge?”

“So, I spent all day yesterday combing through the data and found some really interesting stuff.” Pidge said, her tone now serious. “It looks like a man named Sendak is in charge of distribution.”

“Hey. I know that name.” Lance interjected, thankful to get down to business. “Last week a couple detectives were complaining they couldn’t charge him with anything and had to let him go. He sounded pretty important.”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah. He’s a top general in the Galra and reports directly to Haggar.”

“So if we can catch him with the drugs, we can take down a huge chunk of the Galra.” Lance said, finishing Pidges thought. 

“Exactly!” She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. 

“Actually,” Allura frowned. “Shiro and I suspect there are people within the police force who are being paid off by the Galra. Ideally, we need the police to catch Sendak in the act. It will be much harder to make evidence disappear.”

Pidge hummed in consideration, her lips turning into a frown. “That will prove to be more difficult.”

“We could just call the cops to when Sendak will be with the drugs, right?” Hunk asked. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be that easy.” Shiro answered. “We know where the drugs are being stored and we can assume that Sendak will show up at some point, but we don’t know when. We’ll need to be there to gather evidence and make sure the Galra don’t leave before the police show up.”

“That’ll be really tight timing to make sure that we aren’t caught with the Galra.” Lance said. “Or  _ by _ the Galra.”

“We’ve always managed before though, right?” Hunk said hopefully.

“Yeah, are you doubting our abilities now, Lance?” Pidge teased.

Lance appraised everyone’s expressions, all tight-faced and concerned. They all knew how difficult this would be to pull off. 

“Pfft. No way!” Lance replied easily. “I could never doubt the power of Voltron combined. Our power is unrivaled.”

“That’s the spirit.” Allura smiled. “Now, we need to plan carefully to make sure this goes off without a hitch.”

  
  
  


It was Wednesday night and the clock was ticking. The whole crew was in the headquarters, including Pidge’s brother, Matt. He wasn’t an official member but he was an ally.

“Matt. You know I love you and think you’re great, but why the fuck are you here?” Lance asked. 

“Rude much.” Matt replied with mock offence. 

“You work for the police!” Lance stressed. “It’s like, a conflict of interest or something.”

“Lol. I ain’t no snitch.” Matt grinned.

“You could get into serious trouble.”

“I worked for the police.” Shiro said seriously. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“You don’t  _ actively  _ work for the police. You know what I mean.”

“What’s this? Lance has a problem with the cops?” Keith teased. “Guess I’m out too.”

Hunk frowned. “I didn’t think you were a cop…”

“I wasn’t an officer but I snitched on the Galra before Shiro quit the force.”

“Ohhh. I see. So Lance’s prejudice spreads that far.” Hunk nodded in understanding.

“Oh har har. Let’s all pick on Lance.” Lance griped. 

“Don’t worry bro. I gotchu’re back.” Pidge said looking up from her laptop. “Fuck the cops. And snitches!”

**“** Well, I mean…” Lance mumbled and looked at Keith.

They made eye contact for only a moment before Keith’s face twitched and settled into a scowl. Lance looked away as hoped the heat he felt under the collar wasn’t visible. 

“My own little sister…” Matt threw the back of his hand to his forehead in distress. 

“But seriously, Matt.” Lance continued. “Why are you here?”

“I know Voltron has some serious business to sort out soon but Shiro has some serious personal business that he desperately needs help with.”

Worried, Hunk turned to Shiro. “Is everything okay? Can we help at all?”

Shiro sighed and covered his face with a hand. “It’s not - I don’t need help.”

“Uh, yes. You do.” Allura chimed in and slung her arm around Shiro’s shoulders. 

“He is  _ absolutely helpless _ when it comes to Valentine’s Day and his anniversary.” Matt explained.

“Or anything romantic.” Allura added. 

“I’m not  _ that _ bad.” Shiro pouted. 

“Hey Matt.” Allura said leaning around Shiro to see the other man. “Remember when Adam threatened to break up with Shiro if he took that position abroad and Shiro decided to take his chances?”

“Oh my Gooooodddd.” Matt complained. “Or after we helped him patch that up when he thought it was a good idea to propose when they were both at work?”

“Adam’s a lawyer.” Allura said as an aside for Hunk and Lance. “And we had to testify on this case. Matt being the CSI for the police was called as expert testimony and Shiro and I were the responding officers. Shiro decided that,  _ right _ after the case, in the middle of the halls, was a good time to propose.”

“To be fair, Adam was  _ killing it _ that day. He was pretty hot.”

“I mean, yeah, but there was a guy yelling and being dragged away in handcuffs like, 10 feet from us. I had to physically restrain him from getting down on one knee.”

“Oh!” Pidge called out. “Remember that one Valentine’s Day where -“

“Okay! Okay!” Shiro interrupted before they could embarrass him even more. “I get it. I suck at romance and Adam is lucky I have you two for help.”

“Hey Pidge,” Keith said, ignoring Shiro. “Were you going to say that year he thought it was a good plan to get Adam a toaster for Valentine’s Day?”

“Lmao, no. I forgot about that.” Pidge laughed. “I was going to say that year that Adam was hinting on going on a trip to New York and Shiro wanted to get him a dashboard bobble-head of Lady Liberty.”

Lance’s eyebrows shot up. He would have never thought the serious, responsible man that he looked up to was that inept. Though, now that he thought about it, he didn’t know why he was surprised. Shiro was always taking things so seriously. There was very little flair or romance with him, it was all very ‘down to business’.

“I said enough!” Shiro whined.

“Awwweeeee.” Allura crooned. “Matt and I have been saving you since we all started in the Academy. I think we have a right to tease you.”

“Fine. But I don’t have to be here for it.” Shiro stuck his tongue out and pulled out of Allura's arm. 

“Awe.” Hunk said with feeling. “I think it’s romantic.”

“Oh god. No. Hunk. No.” Matt chided.

“No, but he  _ loves _ him.” Hunk continued. “To put up with you guys to make sure Adam is happy. I think it’s cute.”

Shiro’s face softened and he looked wistfully into the distance at the thought of his husband. “I would put up with a lot more than these 2-“ he squinted at Keith and Pidge. “-than these 4, to make Adam happy.”

Hunk sighed dreamily. “What was your wedding like?”

“Please tell me you tried for that.” Lance said. “Or that you enlisted these guys.”

“I always try.” Shiro retorted. “But I consulted Adam on everything. It was perfect.” 

Shiro smiled sappily as Allura and Matt cooed at him. 

“It was actually really nice.” Keith said. “Small but touching.”

“Adam and I really wanted a nice honeymoon, so we saved a lot of money on the ceremony and did things on the cheap. We rented a small hall and did a lot of handmade and easy decorations. Got the university culinary program to cater the food and cake. Keith played the music for our first dance. And then we went to Bali for three weeks.”

“It suited you two perfectly.” Allura also looked wistful as she recalled the day. 

“Awe. That sounds lovely. Speaking of weddings though,” Lance’s tone turned cocky, unable to resist taunting Keith again. “I bet Keith would just elope. Not tell anyone. Just show up to the courthouse and get a random person to witness it.” Lance smirked at Keith as if daring him to deny it. 

Keith scowled and crossed his arms. “So what if I would. It wouldn’t matter as long as I found the right person. That’s what counts. Not some fancy ceremony.”

“Oooo. Do me! Do me! What kind of wedding can you see me having?” Pidge said, her eyes sparkling with amusement, not realizing the deeper meaning to Lance’s jab. 

Lance cupped his chin and scrunched his brows together, as if deep in thought. “Hmmmmm. I wanna say… small ceremony, only family and close friends. Short but really touching. And your ring bearer will be a robot dog that you made.”

“You know me so well.” She wiped a fake tear away from her eye as she laughed. 

“I bet Lance would go over the top.” Keith smirked. “Small ceremony but do the whole nine yards with cake and decorations. I bet he’d go with a white suit and look spectacular.”

“Oh close! I know what kind of wedding Lance will have.” Hunk said, joining in the game. “Large, outdoor ceremony so all his family can attend; lots of white and baby blue decorations, and definitely incorporate his nieces and nephews into it as ring bearers and flower girls and what not. Lots of dancing and partying afterward. The McClain's go  _ hard _ . I’ve only visited them once for Lance’s birthday, and it was… I don’t think I’ve even seen so many happy drunk people before. Like, a hundred Lance’s, but  _ worse. _ ”

Keith’s cocky grin dropped as he looked at Hunk with surprise and… hurt? “Really?...”

“Oh yeah.” Hunk confirmed joyfully, missing Keith’s distress. “Those guys are  _ wild _ . And Lance and I have talked about our weddings at length. His family being there is a big thing.”

“Oh…” Keith looked crestfallen. 

“Haha..” Lance rubbed the back of his head. “You got me… But my plans could change for the right person.”

Hunk gave him a weird look.

“I just mean,” Lance scrambled to explain himself. “It would be a compromise with my partner. And the situation would make a difference… and it’s a long way off still.” He laughed awkwardly.

“All you losers need to find a partner first.” Matt laughed at them. “I don’t see any rings on any fingers.”

It was true. Lance wasn’t wearing his ring on his finger. He kept it on a chain around his neck, tucked under his shirt so nobody would notice it. The weight rested comfortably against his sternum. He knew it was silly, but he was a romantic at heart. Even if it was just a friend marriage - a ‘let's not go to jail’ marriage - he still wanted to keep the ring with him. 

Keith wasn’t wearing his ring either. Probably hidden in his apartment somewhere. Keith was much more practical than he was. He wouldn’t get caught up in emotions, much less for Lance of all people. 

“Anyway,” Allura said pointedly. “You four have some devising to do tonight and Matt and I have some butt saving to do. 

Allura and Matt dragged Shiro away and left the four of them to sit around Pidge’s computer and brainstorm. The joy and laughter dissipated and the pressure of their task settled in their features. 

“So we need to make sure the drug never makes it to the street, but we also need the police to catch Sendak and the Galra  _ with _ the drug…” Hunk said with a frown, trying to figure out how both could happen. 

“We’re going to need to destroy the majority, but make sure that enough survives so a case can be made.” Pidge explained. 

“Explosives.” Keith stated as if the answer was obvious.

Lance smacked his face with his hand. “Why is that all your ideas revolve around explosives or stabbing?”

“What? They work.”

“What if we put a chemical in the sprinkler system to destroy the drug?” Hunk suggested, ignoring Keith and Lance entirely. 

“Hmm.” Pidge thought about it. “There's a good chance the water wouldn’t soak through to any crates on the bottom of stacks and we don’t know what kind of formula to use.”

“Yeah…”

They were all silent for a moment, thinking of other ways that might work. 

“Explosives.” Keith whispered again. 

“I suppose if we set small charges,” Lance mused 

“And set them off just before the police arrived.” Pidge added. 

“That way we could spare some of the drugs for evidence.” Hunk finished. 

Keith nodded and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “See. They work.”

“Timing is going to be the most difficult factor here though.” Lance said. “One thing goes wrong and we could all go down.”

“LoveBug’s release is Saturday night.” Pidge added. “They’ll be shipping it to all the clubs that afternoon. So we need to destroy it in the warehouse before the first shipment, which is set for…” She quickly checked her computer. “4 pm.”

“So we need to decide if we want to do this on Friday night or Saturday morning.”

“Actually,” Hunk countered. “The data said that Sendak will only be there Saturday afternoon to oversee the distribution.”

“So we’ll need to set the charges just before Sendak arrives, make sure the police are on their way, set off the explosives while Sendak is still there, make sure the police  _ catch  _ him there with the remaining drugs, and leave before the police can catch us as well.” Lance listed off. “Sure. Yeah. No problem.”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah. That pretty much sums it up.”

  
  
  


Saturday afternoon came much too quickly for everyone’s comfort. They all sat in the van outside the warehouse in tense silence. It was 2 pm; they had three hours before distribution and an hour and a half before Sendak’s arrival. They were already dressed in their heist uniforms, black, skin tight bodysuits that weren't Kevlar but provided some protection from blunt force trauma and knife wounds. Their ear coms were in already but wouldn’t activate until they left the van.

Lance checked that all his tools and weapons were in their correct holsters and pockets. A gun on one thigh and a small grappling hook on the other. A small knife sheathed in his boot. A satchel filled with explosive discs slung over his shoulder.

The others were doing their last minute checks as well. 

“Alright, gang.” Shiro started. “Everyone knows the plan, right?”

“We literally made the plan, Shiro.” Lance said with false confidence. “We got this.”

“Right. Sorry. Just... Be careful everyone. This is our toughest job yet.”

“Don’t worry, Shiro. I’ll make sure everyone makes it out.” Despite his calm tone, Lance couldn’t help bouncing his knee, the only tell of how nervous he was. 

He felt a hand rest on his forearm. He looked to its owner and felt his body relax as Keith looked at him with concern. 

“Lance, we’ll get through this together.”

Lance took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay. It’s go time.” Allura said, pulling her hood up to cover her hair and opening the van door. 

The rest of them pulled their hoods up and left the van. Shiro nodded and closed the van door behind Keith. Shiro was staying behind to keep tabs on everything and act as their control tower as the five of them worked through the large warehouse. Pidge had run him through the basics of her computers and programs.

Allura led them to a side door and they snuck into the building. It was dark. The lights were off as nobody was supposed to be there yet. Some light came in through the small windows near the roof but it diffused quickly.

They didn’t dare turn on their own flashlights for fear of being noticed, so they carefully made their way through the stacks of crates and shelves. 

Allura nodded to them and they all split up. They kept silent as they planted their explosives. 

Lance was about halfway done his section, he had just planted the small disk on the side of a crate and activated it when Shiro’s worried voice came through the coms. 

“We’ve got a problem -”

Suddenly, the overhead lights clapped on like a wave, flooding the whole area in bright light. Lance panicked being suddenly exposed. 

There were loud, gruff voices coming from the loading bay of the warehouse. 

“Sendak’s here.” Allura breathed out. 

“He’s ahead of schedule!” Pidge panicked.

“Yeah. I’m making the call to the police now.” Shiro said. “Get as much as you can done in 10 minutes. Everyone get back to the van before they arrive in 12 minutes.”

Everyone said a word of confirmation before getting back to their work, much more carefully now. 

Lance was worried Galra members would come checking the rows and find him, but he was much more worried about Keith, whose section was closest to the loading bay. 

“Red.” Lance whispered. “Come to my section.”

“No. I’ve got it.” Keith’s voice was barely audible. 

Lance frowned at his stubbornness but relented. “Fine.”

Lance finished another row. The Galra had stayed by the loading bay, Voltron was still undiscovered. Even though this had gone awry, it was still okay. They could still get this done. 

“ETA 5 minutes.” Shiro said. “Start wrapping up.”

“Wait.” Keith hissed. 

“What?”

“Shhh.” Keith snapped. 

There was a moment of tense silence. 

“Fuck.” Ketih growled. “Sendak is leaving.”

“What?” 

“No…”

“He can’t!”

Everyone sounded distressed and panicked. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep him here.” Keith said. “Leave now.”

“Keith, no!” Lance snapped furiously, already sprinting down the aisle toward him. 

There was a huge crash that Lance heard through the com and echoing around the warehouse. Fuck. Lance’s heart jumped into his throat and threatened to choke him. 

Angry shouts picked up after a moment of stunned silence. 

Lance turned the corner to see a stack of crates toppled over and Keith completely exposed. A handful of Galra approached him. Sendak kept his distance but didn’t move to leave. 

Lance whipped out the gun on his thigh and crouched by a fallen crate, aiming at the guy approaching Keith.

“What’s happening?” Shiro’s voice was strained. 

“Red engaged. Sendak is staying. I’ve got his back.” Lance whispered. “Everyone else get out now.”

“Blue-” Allura started to say.

“There’s no time, Pink.”

“Come out safe, Blue.” Hunk's voice was thick as he panted, running out of the building. 

“You know it, Bud.” Lance lied, knowing the chances of leaving unhindered were slim. “See you in a minute.”

Keith had his knife in his hand and swung at the closest gang member. Lance watched for a moment, decided that Keith could take him, and turned his attention to the other members. One was pulling a gun out from the back of his pants. 

Lance took aim and shot. The bullet lodged in his arm, sending the gun fell to the ground. 

Keith knocked out his target and moved to the next, sending one crashing into another. Keith fought quick, hard, and fierce. His whole body changed into a machine built for fighting. Years and years of experience beat into him. 

Lance took out another guard as they approached Keith’s position.

Sendak moved toward Keith as he took out the last lower level Galra. Lance aimed but couldn’t get a non-lethal shot. Sendak must have spotted him and was keeping Keith between them. 

Sendak swung at Keith which he narrowly avoided. Sendak dwarfed Keith. He was huge and built like a tank. Any hits Keith managed to land barely phased the Galra. 

They couldn’t have been fighting for more than a minute. Lance could barely breath the whole time, unable to take a shot to help his friend. 

There was an opening as Sendak kicked Keith hard in the chest. Lance couldn’t think as he watched Keith fly back and land limply on the ground. The knife fell out of his hand and scattered several feet behind him.

Moving much too quickly for such a large man, Sendak was leaning over Keith, grabbing the front of his uniform and hauling him up. He spun Keith’s dazed body around, one arm wrapping around his neck to keep him from moving, and the other arm grabbing a gun and holding it to his temple. 

Lance swallowed hard, his own gun trained at the large man but they both knew he couldn’t pull the trigger. 

“ETA two minutes, Blue.”

Lance hummed his understanding. He just needed to keep Sendak from killing Keith for two minutes. He could do that. He had to. 

“Lance! What are you doing?” Keith coughed. “Go!” 

Keith closed his eyes and grimaced as the metal of the gun barrel pressed into his skin. 

“Like I could leave you.” Lance scoffed, trying to sound confident and cocky. He almost pulled it off. “We agreed to do this thing together, right?”

Lance head police sirens softly in the background but they quickly got louder. 

“It’s cute how you think you can beat the Galra.” Sendak taunted. “I’ll give you one chance to leave and I might consider not blowing this one’s brains out if you drop the gun and hurry.”

Lance thought for a moment. He couldn’t leave and he couldn’t let Sendak go either. 

“Lance.” Keith only said his name, but his tone was telling him to leave and not look back. Begging him to even.

“Okay.” he said finally, lowering the gun. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

Keith sagged slightly in the firm hold, no doubt relieved. “It’s okay.” He whispered.

Lance turned to the wide open warehouse entrance, a truck was already sitting there waiting to be loaded. Lance raised the gun and shot the chain holding one corner of the heavy door up. He pivoted and shot the other corner before the first bullet hit the chain. 

Both shots hit true and the warehouse door came down with a resounding crash. 

Sendak roared with anger and turned the gun toward Lance. Lance dove toward the nearest crate as the gun went off, the sound much louder now that they were locked in.

Sendak pushed Keith away and stormed toward Lance’s hiding spot. 

He didn’t want to die, but if it meant Keith survived this encounter, Lance wouldn’t have changed any of his decisions. He crawled down the aisle as quickly as possible. He reached the end and could see a small door beside the one he had closed. If he could get to Keith they  _ might _ just have a chance of escape yet. He had a brief moment of hope before a shoe landed between his shoulder blades and pushed him flat against the ground. He turned his head to see Sendak looming above him, a wicked grin on his face. Lance’s body was no match for the weight of the large man - he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Sendak raised the gun from his side and pointed it to Lance’s head. “I hope that stunt was worth it.”

Before Lance could scrunch his eyes closed in the face of his imminent death, he saw a figure jump from the top of the crates and collide with Sendak. The gun went off and a chunk of concrete feet above Lance’s head exploded. 

The pressure on his back lightened as Sendak fought to throw Keith off. Lance took the opportunity to roll and cling to his leg, causing him to tumble. Keith smashed the gun out of his hand and it skittered several feet away. 

The small door that Lance had seen was thrown wide open and police officers streamed in, guns raised and trained on them. 

In the last moment before they were surrounded, Lance had one last idea. 

“Red. Com. And don’t say a word.” He hoped Keith would understand what he was trying to say. 

Keith nodded, removed his ear piece, and crushed it. 

Lance took his own out but rather than destroying it, he slipped it into Sendak’s pocket in the confusion. 

Then he was being bodily handled. Police officers hauling his arms and securing them behind his back. He was disoriented with all the noise and movement. He was hauled to his feet and next thing he knew he was being slammed against the side of a cruiser. He grunted at the impact. 

He heard Keith growl somewhere nearby, likely going to yell at the offending officer. 

Lance found his gaze and glared at him. Telling him again to not say a single word though the eye contact. Keith’s scowl deepened but he remained silent. 

Then they were shoved into different cars and were taken away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best, but am finding it very difficult to write Keith the way I want to. He is so soft for Lance but Lance is an oblivious idiot.   
> So here's some things from Keith's POV that I couldn't explain as well as I wanted.   
> -Wedding at the 'supposed to be a kiss' scene where Keith's eyes flick down, he is definitely looking at Lance's lips and is a hair away from kissing him.  
> -Cupcake scene where Lance eats icing off Keith's face, Keith scowls because found it incredibly hot but scowl is his default reaction when severely flustered.   
> -Butt-in-face scene, Keith is very, very flustered but not unhappy about it happening XD  
> -Guess-the-wedding game, Keith just wants to make Lance happy and is worried that he ruined his dreams. He wants Lance to have the world.  
> He just loves him so much but has a hard time expressing it and also doesn't think Lance is into him. Silly boys. They'll get their shit together soon. I promise. 
> 
> Also, as far as the next update goes. I had a bunch of this pre-written, so was able to update fairly quickly up till now. I'm trying my best to pound out the last maybe 1-2 chapters, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. I also started a new job so I have less time to do actual writing T_T BUT! I promise I'll get this finished soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them. ^.^


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